Oops: Cops Say Raised Dump Truck Brings Down Pole in Ocean County

A note to those that drive dump trucks: always make sure the back of your truck is fully lowered before driving.

For one Jersey truck driver, he learned that lesson the hard way after cops in Ocean County say he brought down a utility pole early Tuesday morning because the bed of his truck wasn't down.

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Cops in Manchester Township were called out to County Road 547 near Ridge Ave. just before 7:00 Tuesday morning for the report of a crash. There, cops found a Kenworth dump truck with a severed utility pole on top of it.

They say,

The investigation revealed that the dump truck pulled onto County Road 547 southbound from the property of 3858 County Road 547. When the dump truck entered the roadway, the rear open-box bed was partially raised. At that point, the elevated rear open-box struck the power lines that crossed the roadway. The crash caused tension in the power lines subsequently breaking the utility pole.

The driver, 33-year-old Jason Veloso of Rahway, was not injured.

Police say their investigation is still ongoing, but at this point, driver error appears to be the primary contributing factor.