The small town of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts has a new police chief and it’s none other than Jonathan Searle.
If the name sounds familiar it’s because before Searle began his career in law enforcement, the 56-year-old was a child actor, and he alongside his real-life brother starred in Jaws, which filmed in the very same town.
“I’m finding the whole thing quite funny myself!” he told The Post.
In the 1975 Steven Spielberg film, Searle and his brother played the two pranksters who used a cardboard shark fin to create a mass panic on the beach of the fictional town of Amity.
Despite his role in the film, the Martha’s Vineyard native chose not to pursue an acting career and instead followed in the footsteps of his father who was the chief of police of nearby Edgartown from 1981 to 1995.
Searle joined the force in 1986, and after rising through the ranks he was voted to become the next police chief of Oak Bluffs by a vote of 3-1, according to The Vineyard Gazette.
“I’m clearly elated and and I’m humbled and honored to have been offered the position,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been working toward my whole career.”
Hopefully for his sake, life won’t imitate art or at least not again.
In 2008, a man on State Beach began warning people along the shore about two great white sharks swimming in the area. Searle, who was off duty at the time, happened to be on the beach and witnessed the man informing beachgoers about the potential danger.
In the end it turned out to be a hoax, and the man, Michael Lopenzo, was charged with disorderly conduct.
Of course it didn’t go unnoticed that Searle was the one to investigate a great white sighting.
Congratulations to the new police chief!
Please share if you’re a fan of Jaws and would like to congratulate Jonathan Searle on his new position of chief of police of Oak Bluffs.
