VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Before the sun began to rise over the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach Saturday morning, a car entered several gates and drove onto the Fishing Pier before plunging end-to-end into the ocean.
Video shared with News 3 shows the car driving toward the end of the pier, which is between 14th and 15th streets, stopping briefly, and then leaving the end. A flock of birds can be seen flying away moments before.
The raw video shows a car driving out of the VB fishing pier
“My first reaction was that I was surprised and then very sad,” said Manon Scholl.
Scholl works at Ocean Eddie’s on the pier.
He said he was woken up on Saturday morning by a phone call from a friend telling him what had happened.
“I was really confused. I was, like, what do you mean someone drove off the pier? That’s obviously very difficult,” Scholl said.
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It’s hard to see how this accident happened because the driver had to do not one but two obstacles to get onto the pier. Cellphone video shows the driver braking several times while on the pier before driving out and into the water.
“I’ve had a lot of family members who have suffered from mental illness in the past and since I’ve seen this, I just thought of all the opportunities I could have protected someone,” Scholl said.
As of late Saturday afternoon, police tape was still on the pier and the area where the vehicle entered and left the pier was still boarded up.
A police boat is also patrolling the water around the pier as police figure out the best way to get the car out of the water.
A fisherman told News 3 the water at the end of the pier was about 15 feet deep.
“Right now, what we’re doing is trying to assess the situation, trying to see what resources we need to recover the vehicle, and trying to see how many occupants are in the vehicle and then the detectives will go from there,” Explained by Virginia Beach Police Officer Jude Brenya Saturday morning.
Charlotte Murphy, who works at Ocean Eddie’s, went to work after the incident.
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“I’ve never heard anything like this in all my seven years,” he said. “Definitely the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, for sure.”
Virginia Beach police and firefighters responded quickly and, using sonar equipment, the police Marine Division worked to locate the vehicle.
“From the scans we have, we believe the vehicle is located at the bottom of the ocean,” Brenya said. “It takes a while to get the divers prepped and then they have to have a plan in place (before the divers enter the water).”
Footage from the scene at the VB fishing pier after the car left the side
Who was in the car and why they ended up on the pier were among the questions that remained unanswered Saturday afternoon.
News of what happened traveled quickly.
“We grew up here. I’m 53 years old and I’ve never heard of it,” said one man as he and another man stood on the pier near police tape. “I have to go.”
“I just want to say pray for everybody in the family that’s related to anybody that is in the car. Let’s just pray for everyone, friends and family,” said Scholl.
News 3 will continue to follow this story and keep you updated on air and online.
