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Officers Juan Guzman and Steven Pisciotta were on duty at the bridge around 9:45 a.m. when they spotted the white pickup with a snow plow being chased by a black Honda SUV with a red and white flashing light bar inside the windshield and flashing strobe lights on the front and rear, the authority’s Joseph Pentangelo told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this morning.
COURTESY: PAPD
At the same time, Fort Lee police broadcast an alert that the pickup had fled a crash.
The officers stopped both vehicles under Lemoine Avenue.
The pickup driver, identified as Giuseppe Aiello (above, left), had a zip-locking bag of marijuana in plain view, as well as what appeared to be a loose chunk of pot near the brake pedal, Pentangelo said.
The Honda Pilot driver, Michael Colon (above, right), had a large metal detective-style badge in his windshield, along with a counterfeit NYPD parking permit above the driver’s-side visor with NYPD logos and the words: “This Vehicle is on Official NYPD Business,” he said.
It turned out the pickup had struck several other vehicles as the driver fled a collision with the SUV, Pentangelo said.
PAPD police charged Aiello with reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and possession of drug paraphernalia. Fort Lee police charged him with leaving the scene of a crash.
Authority police charged Colon with impersonating a law enforcement officer, forgery, eluding, improper use of emergency lights and several traffic violations.
IMAGES: Courtesy PORT AUTHORITY PD
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