January 18, 2024
StreetView/Google Maps
Jeffrey Jastrzembski, 53, of Atlantic City, has been charged with aggravated manslaughter for a fatal boat strike last August that killed swimmer Norma Michaels, 70. The crash happened in the Intercoastal Waterway near the Albany Avenue Bridge, shown above.
An Atlantic City man has been charged with aggravated manslaughter after an investigation into a boating crash that killed a woman swimming in the Intercoastal Waterway last summer, authorities said.
The Aug. 12 crash happened just before 5:15 p.m. near the Albany Avenue Bridge. Jeffrey Jastrzembski, 53, of Atlantic City, allegedly struck and killed 70-year-old Norma Michaels, also of Atlantic City, after accelerating his fishing boat toward the docks. Jastrzembski was not injured.
Investigators say Jastrzembski made an "aggressive turn" near the port, causing his boat's propeller to strike Michaels.
Jastrzembski allegedly had a blood alcohol content between 0.19% and 0.23% at the time of the crash, more than twice the legal limit in New Jersey, prosecutors said.
Michaels ran an events business in Philadelphia prior to her death. An online obituary described her as "a fierce matriarch, self-made businesswoman, and beloved member of her community."
The case was investigated by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Crash Investigation Unit and the New Jersey State Police.
