Rushing to give a ticket? NJ cop drives over woman on beach

✅ A woman was run over by a police pickup truck

✅ Police chief says officer was responding to "ordinance violation"

✅ Chief praised bystanders for helping

Wildwood Police Chief Joseph Murphy has shed some light on what led to a department pickup truck running over a woman lying on the beach.

Beachgoers watched the pickup hit the sunbathing woman near Rio Grande Avenue  around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to 6 ABC Action News.

Bystanders then tried to lift the truck to get the woman from underneath.

The website WildwoodVideoArchive.com said the pickup was swerving and was "way too close" to beachgoers.

Murphy told The Press of Atlantic City the officer was responding to a local "ordinance violation" in his marked Ford F-150 pickup truck. The chief acknowledged the officer ran over the woman, who was taken via medical helicopter to a hospital, and wished her a "speedy recovery."

ALSO READ: Wildwood motel owner arrested again in latest police standoff

"Incredible job" by bystanders

The woman was visiting Atlantic City but did not disclose her identity.

Murphy said that bystanders on the beach did an "incredible job" of helping the woman. The incident will be the subject of an internal investigation.

A city spokeswoman on Tuesday morning did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for more information.

Elsewhere at the Jersey Shore this summer, cops in Belmar made national headlines after arresting a surfer who they said did not have a beach badge. 

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