Chase through six towns ends when DWI driver slams car into tree

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A drunk driver led police on a chase through six towns that ended when he crashed his car into a tree in Teaneck early this morning and had to be pulled out of the burning wreck by one of the officers who pursued him, Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler said.

Jerry DeMarco

05/07/2011 7:00 p.m.

“We were very fortunate other innocent people didn’t have to suffer the sometimes tragic consequences of foolish menaces like him,” the chief said early Saturday afternoon.

The chase started in Saddle Brook at 2:30 a.m., when a car driven by 21-year-old Christopher Yager of Preston Street in Ridgefield Park — with its emergency flashers on — sped past Officer Joseph Mazza, who was on radar duty on Route 46 East, the chief said.

Mazza tried to pull him over, Kugler said, but Yager wouldn’t stop.

The drove through several towns heading east on the highway, until Yager pulled off at the Teaneck
Road exit in Ridgefield Park and then turned onto Jasper Street in Teaneck, where he lost control of the car, Kugler said.

It jumped the curb and struck a tree, he said.

Yager couldn’t get his door open, as smoke began to fill the cabin. With help from other officers who rushed to the scene, Mazza got Yager out of the car.

Yager was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was treated for right-leg injuries and had blood drawn.

He’s due for an initial appearance in Saddle Brook Municipal Court on Wednesday to answer violations of driving while under the influence, reckless driving, speeding, running red lights and eluding.

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