It was a chaotic scene in Belmar Thursday morning when a wrong-way driver crashed into and ended up driving along the boardwalk.

Miraculously, a guardrail was the only thing that the driver collided with along the boardwalk.

Police said 44-year-old Jason Nagy, from Avon, is facing several charges, including suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

For 15 seconds, it shook things up on an otherwise peaceful morning.

“[People were] milling around, scared. Can’t believe it even happened,” said Belmar beach badge checker John Borbone. “It’s a miracle that nobody got hurt.”

The tire tracks from Nagy’s vehicle were still visible hours later along the Belmar boardwalk.

“I saw the SUV smash into a pickup truck, and then he proceeded to lose control of the car, and ended up jumping all three steps to get onto the boardwalk, where there were people walking,” Borbone said.

It came a little too close for comfort for Third Avenue beach badge checker Billy Schueler - who had just arrived to work.

“[It was] about three feet that way,” Schueler said. “I got up and I ran away.”

“He was driving extremely fast,” Borbone said. “Everybody jumped into the dunes.”

“I didn’t really think this was a dangerous job, but you never know,” Scheuler said.

Both Nagy and the driver of the vehicle he struck were taken to the hospital.