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Driver, 14, Leads Paramus Stolen Car Chase Ending With Hackensack Crash, Pet Parakeet Recovered

A 14-year-old boy whose passenger was carrying a pet parakeet in his backpack led Paramus police on an overnight stolen car chase that ended with a crash down a Hackensack dead end.

The pursuit covered nearly 20 miles from where the car was first spotted in Saddle River to where it crashed in Hackensack.

The pursuit covered nearly 20 miles from where the car was first spotted in Saddle River to where it crashed in Hackensack.

Photo Credit: Kyle Mazza/UNF News for DAILY VOICE (file photo)

An officer in Upper Saddle River first spotted the 2015 Hyundai Sonata on Lake Street around 2 a.m. and issued an alert to police in surrounding towns.

Paramus Officer Michael Mordaga was waiting as the sedan, reported stolen out of Belleville nearly 24 hours before, sped past him on southbound Route 17.

Mordaga activated his emergency lights and siren, but the young driver from Newark kept going, Paramus Police Chief Robert Guidetti said.

The pursuit continued through Rochelle Park, then into Lodi and Hasbrouck Heights at reported speeds at the time of up to 100 miles an hour. 

The driver looped around to Route 80, then almost as quickly exited into Hackensack, responders said.

The fleeing vehicle continued north on Hudson Street, then roared up River Street, before turning onto Anderson Avenue and then down a dead end where it slammed into a parked vehicle.

The passenger, 16, bailed out, ran off and hopped a fence, but Michael Focarino quickly chased him down, the chief said. Inside a fanny pack he was wearing was a pet parakeet, Guidetti said.

Mordaga and Officer William Stallone stayed with the driver, who remained in the vehicle, he said.

Police signed delinquency complaints for possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding against the driver and for joyriding and resisting arrest against the Bloomfield passenger, the chief said. 

The unlicensed driver also received summonses before he and his companion -- and the bird -- were released to his mother, Guidetti said.

Because of their ages, closed-door hearings were to be scheduled in the Family Division of Superior Court in Hackensack.

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