Crime & Safety

Man Dies in Post-Season Swim on Unguarded Beach

24-year-old Egyptian man visiting area swept out by rip current, body found under Casino Pier in Seaside Heights

An afternoon at the Seaside Heights beach with friends turned deadly Wednesday for a 24-year-old Egyptian man who was caught in a rip current, Detective Steven Korman said.

Farouk Sherif Abbas Helmmi, of Alexandria, Egypt, was found in the water under the north side of Casino Pier, little more than an hour after he decided to go swimming with a female friend, Korman said.

Helmmi had a faint pulse when Patrolman Edward Pasieka pulled him from the water. He was taken to Community Medical Center by the Tri-Boro First Aid Squad, but was pronounced dead at 5:37 p.m., shortly after he arrived, Korman said.

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Helmmi, who was visiting at a house on Dupont Avenue, was part of a group of Egyptian friends on the beach off Grant Avenue. Helmmi and a 21-year-old, whose name is being withheld, decided to go swimming on the unguarded beach around 4:18 p.m., Korman said.

"She said she was swimming and not getting anywhere," Korman said. "She was in a rip current. The victim was a little bit further ahead of her. A wave came in and brought her onto shore and it brought him out."

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Friends on the beach called 9-1-1, he said.

"They kept describing where he was and kept pointing to under the pier," Korman said.

An autopsy determined that Helmmi died of accidental drowning, Korman said.

Seaside Heights beaches are unguarded after the summer season, Korman said.

"The season's over," he said.

Seaside Heights Patromen Erik Hershey and John Roth also responded to the scene, along with the Seaside Heights and Seaside Park fire department water rescue teams.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and the Ocean County Sherrif's Department's criminal investigations unit also responded, Korman said.


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