'Pretty insane’: Several thousand people lose power following early morning crash in Ocean County

An early morning crash knocked out power to several thousand people in parts of south Toms River and Berkeley Township.

News 12 Staff

May 4, 2020, 12:50 PM

Updated 1,674 days ago

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An early morning crash knocked out power to several thousand people in parts of south Toms River and Berkeley Township.
The crash happened around 4:30 a.m. on 1 Avenue.
News 12 is told a man was speeding down the road, smashed his car into several parked vehicles and knocked out a telephone pole.
"I heard a loud bang and then what really got me out of bed was when the transformers started blowing up and the fire you heard the smoke and then you heard the screaming," says Nicole Wampole.
The transformer light show could be seen for miles. The crash severely damaged two of Anthony Mador's personal vehicles.
"It's bad, the whole front end destroyed the fender, rim, tires, lights," says Mador.
Witnesses say the driver of the speeding car ran away from the crash, but police caught up with him a few blocks away.
“Pretty insane, very nerve racking not sure what was going to happen,” says victim Anthony Mador. “Lot of arcing and sparking with the wires down, not sure if any of the houses would catch on fire. The vehicle which hit our vehicle was leaking a lot of fluids so that was extremely nerve racking.”
Neighbors say no one was injured, but power at one point was knocked out to several thousand people in the area. JCP&L says power has been restored in some areas.