MANCHESTER – It wasn’t a case of a wrong turn but just a very bad decision that sent a SUV Chevy Tahoe into a portion of Crystal Lake within the Heritage Minerals site over the weekend.
The SUV mishap occurred on May 17 which left it laying on its side, partly submerged in ASARCO, better known as the Heritage Minerals property.
It ended up stuck there when a driver was joyriding on the soft bank of the lake that formed from prior mining operations. This is an area where members of the public aren’t supposed to be in and Manchester Township Police have been trying to bring awareness for years to the fact that the restricted area can be extremely dangerous.
There were no injuries reported from the incident and “the owner was issued a summons and was required to coordinate with the property manager to safely remove the vehicle,” Police Captain Albert Vega told The Manchester Times. He explained that the driver lost control on the soft sand bank of the lake. A tow truck will be removing the SUV at the owner’s expense.
Vega stressed the dangers of the lakes at the site owned by the Hovnanian Corporation. As many as eight drownings have occurred since the mining operations at the site ended nearly four decades ago. In 2024, a 33-year-old Howell Township man drowned while swimming and suffering from a muscle cramp in Crystal Lake when he and members of his family unlawfully entered the private, 7,000-acre tract.
Other victims included an 18-year-old Perth Amboy man who died a month later, a Cliffside Park man who drowned in 2023, a Plainfield man who died in 2020 and a 17-year-old township female who died in 2015.
Township police have also been responding to a number of ATV crashes at the site over the span of several years. One involved the death of 62-year-old James Grover of Howell in December 2020.
The man’s friend, Stephen McGuire, 48, also of Howell was sentenced to three years in prison. McGuire was intoxicated when he crashed the vehicle into the lake, with Grover and three children as passengers. While McGuire and the juveniles managed to escape, Grover and the vehicle did not resurface.
Various efforts have been made to block entry points in cooperation with the property’s ownership, adding “No Trespassing” signs and high-profile sweeps with tickets, arrests and vehicle seizures.
With summer-like weather emerging, Vega said the police department is working with other law enforcement agencies and Hovnanian to do everything they can to keep people from entering the site.
Despite Hovnanian and police cordoning off entrances, new ones emerge and people find their way into the area. While the lake appears inviting, the water at the center is very deep. The woods that surround the property are another attraction that draws in unwanted visitors each year who disregard warnings and the number of deaths that have occurred.
Chief Antonio Ellis has reminded the public that the Heritage Minerals site is private property and is closed for recreational and/or other use. Manchester Township Police urge everyone to obey the “No Trespassing” signs posted at the site. Trespassers are subject to substantial fines and penalties up to and including incarceration for being on the property.
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