Stratford Man ID'd as Victim in Fatal Accident at Milford Beach

A 48-year-old Stratford man died Saturday from injuries sustained in an accident at Milford's Walnut Beach.

Timothy Cook, 48, of Broadbridge Avenue, was performing a jumping maneuver off a pier and landed in shallow water, according to witnesses.

Cook was treated for life-threatening injuries on scene before being transported to a local hospital, where he died as a result of his injuries, police said.

What follows is an article from Milford Patch, the day after the accident at Walnut Beach.

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was quite active one day after the fatal accident that resulted in the death of an as-yet-unidentified 48-year-old man early Saturday night.

With the 14th Annual Walnut Beach Arts Festival and both drawing crowds, most beachgoers were unaware that a man had died after attempting a jumping maneuver from the pier on Saturday night.

'A Lot of Young Kids Do Back Flips'

"I think it's crazy," said a regular Walnut Beach visitor, who preferred to remain anonymous. "A lot of young kids do back flips. They do it a lot out there."

Other beachgoers added that they had often seen people doing dives and other jumps off of the pier. 

In response to , Patch user asked "At low tide???" Low tide on Saturday was 7:25 a.m. and 7:48 p.m. 

The only visible sign on the pier warning against diving reads "No skateboards, bicycles or diving" and is located the entrance to the pier.

"People just don't pay attention to this stuff. It's sad to see. It's for their safety and they still don't listen," said , President of the Walnut Beach Association.

No Lifeguard on Duty

was at Walnut Beach yesterday and could not comment for this article, beyond saying that the fatal accident occurred after 4 p.m., when a lifeguard would not have been on duty.

Garfield also noted that Milford Recreation would be speaking with about the incident on Monday.

Between July 1 and mid-August lifeguards are stationed at the five Milford beaches that have lifeguards (, , , and ) daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

From mid-August until Labor Day, lifeguards are on duty during weekends only from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Regarding the lifeguard schedule, Joe Garbus said, "It's mainly during the most crowded part of the day. There are very few people left after that."

'It's Very Difficult to Control Those Kinds of Things'

Regarding the incident,  wrote: "It's very sad. At this time, our thoughts are with the family."

Attempts to contact  were not immediately successful.

stated that she could not comment for this article as the incident occurred on the "City side" rather than in the section of the beach.

As for what else could be done, Joe Garbus said, "It's very difficult to control those kinds of things. They've mentioned about cameras, but I'm not sure how far and could it see at night?"