Police Fundraiser For Der Wunder Wiener Continues Today

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - Members of two local police unions are teaming up to hold a fundraiser for the owner of Der Wunder Wiener and his family on July 5, July 6 and July 7.

The Berkeley P.B.A. 237 and the Beachwood Pine Beach P.B.A. 253 are already on the spot where the popular business was located until it was destroyed in an accident last month. Gerry LaCrosse, the owner and a Beachwood councilman, was severely injured when an SUV left Route 9 in Bayville, took down a utility pole, then plowed into the building.

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Police will sell very reasonably priced hot dogs and other items similar to what LaCrosse sold in his longtime business in front of the old Beachwood Shopping Center.

LaCrosse underwent several surgeries due to the internal bleeding he suffered when he was pinned under the building that was his business and his family's livelihood for more than 30 years.

SubscribeHe was on a ventilator and was in the intensive care unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for more than a week. He has since been discharged and has transferred to a rehab facility for a longrecovery.

The last thing his family wants LaCrosse to have to deal with when he recovers is the stress of lost wages, the devastation of his business, the loss of his car and medical expenses. So they have also set up a gofundme site to help, she said.

To make a donation to the site set up on the family's behalf, click here.

As of today, $11,067 of the $15,000 goal has been raised. The fund was set up just a day after the accident. Please help if you can.

The driver of the SUV, Mark Poplawski, 52, Forked River, suffered minor head and neck injuries and was treated at Community Medical Center in Toms River, after his SUV took down a utility pole, then struck the landmark business on Route 9 South in Bayville on Monday morning.

Poplawski was issued summons for careless driving, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane, driving in an unsafe manner, operating a motor vehicle on public lands, and failure to exhibit registration, the report written by Berkeley Patrolman Michael Bulwinski says.

Photos: Courtesy of Beachwood Police Department, and gofundme, a Patch promotional partner