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Miguel Angel-Villegas, 29, of New Haven had threatened to kill his then-girlfriend if she didn't drive him from Connecticut to New Jersey, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
After making the woman give the Tuckerton police officer a bogus name during the traffic stop last Nov. 21, Angel-Villegas forced her at gunpoint to speed away, Billhimer said.
She hit the gas and the vehicle struck another car, injuring its driver, the prosecutor said.
Angel-Villegas then got out and began firing at the officer, he said.
Although he got away, Angel-Villegas was captured later that night by the U.S. Marshals Service and members of the New York City Police Department just outside of Penn Station.
Angel-Villegas remained held Wednesday in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River pending a first appearance on the indictment.
Besides attempted murder, it charges him with weapons offenses, aggravated assault, hindering, resisting arrest, eluding and burglary.
Billhimer thanked Chief Trial Attorney Michael Weatherstone and Assistant Prosecutor Victoria Veni, who are handling the case, as well as the U.S. Marshals Service, NYPD, Port Authority police, NJ State Police, NJ Transit Police, Ocean County Regional SWAT, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, Tuckerton and Little Egg Harbor police, and the Tuckerton fire and public works departments for their assistance.
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