Berkeley Police Charge Bayville Man After Joyride Through WOBM Pit

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - A Bayville man is facing eluding charges after he refused to stop for police when they spotted him in the WOBM pit off Route 9 recently, Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele said.

Patrolman Christopher Elliott - who was on police ATV duty, saw Daniel O'Brien, 24, Manhattan Avenue, in the pit at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3, driving an orange, two-door Jeep Wrangler erratically. A passenger in the vehicle was throwing beer cans out of the window, she said.

Elliott and Patrolmen Robert Flanagan and Al Foca followed him into the woods and were able to locate him near the Eastern Soccer Field, the chief said.

"Mr. O'Brien admitted that he was operating the vehicle and stated he ran from police because he knew he had warrants out for his arrest," DiMichele said.

O'Brien was also charged with reckless driving and driving on a suspended license. He was turned over to the Ocean County Sheriff's Department's warrant division, the chief said.

Photo: Patricia A. Miller