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Officers were looking for an erratically-driven Dodge Neon when they spotted it speeding down a resident's driveway into a heavily wooded area off Saddle River Road around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1.
The sedan got stuck on a large mulch pile, after which the driver began redlining the engine in a futile attempt to free it, a witness said."It sounded like someone was running a wood chipper," the witness said.
The hot exhaust system ignited the mulch as the overheated engine began to smoke, he said.
The driver bailed out, then told the Fair Lawn officers that her child was in the back seat of the burning vehicle, police said.
An officer began furiously smashing windows with his baton, searching for occupants.
There were none.
The child, police learned, was never in the vehicle but instead was at a safe location.
The woman fled into a nearby home while this was happening, borough police said.
She was seized and held at the scene until a female officer arrived and took her into custody.
The officer who smashed the car windows was given oxygen as firefighters doused the blaze.
Saddle River Road was closed in both directions between Pennington Drive and Morlott Avenue while emergency crews worked.
The vehicle was removed by a flatbed tow truck.
The woman, meanwhile, was taken by ambulance to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center for a psychological evaluation.
No charges were filed, nor summonses issued to the emotionally disturbed motorist, Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Eric Eleshewich said.
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