Friday 20 May 2022 02:40 PM Jaws actor is named police chief of the same Martha's Vineyard town where movie ... trends now
A former Jaws star went from terrorizing the town of Amity to policing its streets in real life.
Jonathan Searle, 56, once donned a fake fin to scare Oak Bluffs beachgoers in the classic horror film set on Martha's Vineyard. Now the actor has been named the town's police chief, 47 years after filming took place in the same location.
The small, ritzy town of 5,000 full-time residents appointed him chief with a vote of 3-1 on Monday. Searle was the one of two natives of the island who made it to the final list. He also ran against former NYC and Newport lieutenants.
'I'm finding the whole thing quite funny myself!' he told the New York Post about being named Chief of Oaks Bluffs.
'I’m clearly elated and I’m humbled and honored to have been offered the position,' he told the Vineyard Gazette.
The child actor will begin his new position starting at the end of June, after current Chief Erik Blake retires.
Searle has lived on the island off the coast of Massachusetts his whole life, with his own father being named Edgartown police chief from 1981 to 1995.
He decided not to pursue a movie career after his unforgettable appearance in Jaws. Eventually, he would join the Edgartown Police Department in 1986, which would lead him to his biggest role yet: chief.
'It’s something I’ve been working toward my whole career,' he told the Vineyard Gazette.
Jonathan Searle, 56, (right) once donned a fake fin to scare Oak Bluffs beachgoers in the classic horror film Jaws, set on Martha's Vineyard, now the actor has been named the town's police chief, 47 years after filming
Searle (right) is most famously known for his role in Jaws, where he played a boy who donned fake fin to scare beachgoers in Oaks Bluffs
The town's board voted him into the new position 3-1 and he was once of the two natives of the island that made it to the final few. He will begin his new position at the end of June, when the current chief retires (pictured: Searle filming a video for Edgartown PD, where he currently works)
As a young officer, Searle spent most
