Middletown crabber's family gets $2.75M settlement after deadly dock fall

FREEHOLD - The estate of Patrick Shopp, a commercial crabber who died from injuries related to a fall at the Belford Seafood Cooperative dock, won a $2.75 million settlement in a Monmouth County court, the family's lawyer confirmed.

According to Monmouth County court records, Shopp initially suffered the injury on March 5, 2019. Christopher J. Conrad of the law firm Eichen, Crutchlow, Zaslow in Edison, who represented Shopp, said he fell through a broken board on the dock, lost his balance and dropped about eight feet down onto the deck of his crab boat, Scapper.

Conrad said Shopp perforated his colon as a result of the fall, which required multiple surgeries over the the next 15 months. Shopp then sued Monmouth County, who owns the property, and the Belford Seafood Cooperative, which leases the property, for negligence for failure to maintain the property.

Monmouth County was dismissed from the case, Conrad said, on the basis that the co-op is responsible for maintaining the dock.

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Michael F. Lynch from the law firm Linda Baumann, represented the co-op and did not respond to a call for comment.

While the case was being litigated, Shopp died June 10, 2021, at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank at age 54 of sepsis due to complications from his injury, Conrad said.

"It's been pretty brutal on the family. He was a family man, real easy going, loved spending time with his son, stepdaughters and grandkids," Conrad said.

Conrad said the Shopp's boat Scapper was sold by the estate.

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According to his obituary, Shopp was born in Jersey City and moved with his family to the Belford section of Middletown when he was an infant and then lived at the Bayshore the rest of his life. He earned the nickname Scapper from his friends and peers by being one of the best crabbers around. He lived in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Belford NJ crabber's family gets $2.75M after deadly dock fall