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Fort Lee Police Officer Timothy Cullen first spotted the cars shortly after an 11:15 broadcast that one of them, a BMW X5, had been stolen from outside the Cliffs Steakhouse on Sylvan Avenue in Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee Detective Sgt. Kenneth Porrino told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon.
As Cullen watched, the Beamer SUV suddenly left the line of eastbound traffic on Bridge Plaza North, with a black Mercedes E350 following closely behind.
The officer followed the two stolen cars a short distance before the Mercedes quickly pulled in front of the BMW — at which point he activated his radio car’s lights and siren, Porrino said.
Both cars kept going, however, heading south on River Road in Edgewater — where the BMW “rammed the front of Police Officer Cullen’s police vehicle with such force that it disabled [it],” the sergeant said.
The Mercedes was wrecked, as well.
Cullen ordered both passengers out, but they bailed and ran east on Maple Street before hopping through the opened rear door of the BMW, Porrino said.
The X5 driver sped north on Hudson Terrace, where the SUV struck another Fort Lee cruiser, he said.
Police chased the car onto Route 46 west and then south on the New Jersey Turnpike and into Newark, where they cut back, given the high speed.
Back in Edgewater, officers found a loaded revolver in the Mercedes.
They’ve tried tracking the BMW through its GPS but as of this afternoon hadn’t had any luck.
The BMW’s owner was warming it up outside the Cliffs Steakhouse when the stolen Mercedes pulled up, Englewood Cliffs Police Chief Michael Cioffi told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
One of the occupants then jumped into the BMW and took off.
Moments later, a resident called Englewood Cliffs police to say she yelled out her window and scared off occupants of the BMW who were trying the doors handles of cars on nearby Sixth Street.
If found, those responsible will face, at the very least, charges of aggravated assault on police, along with various charges relating to car theft, eluding police and other charges to be determined, Porrino said.
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