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Officer Michael Kupchak had activated the overhead emergency lights on his marked patrol cruiser in an attempt to stop a vehicle driven by Gregory Dukes on May 10, 2022. In another police vehicle behind him was Officer Brandon Taylor.
Video released last year by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin shows Dukes at first stopping the four-door silver Hyundai on Maple Avenue while investigating a robbery. The sedan then suddenly turns right onto Bloomfield Avenue and speeds away.
Dukes, 42, entered Glen Ridge at more than 65 miles an hour, Platkin said. Kupchak pulled back almost immediately out of public safety concerns, he said.
A short distance up the road, Dukes lost control of the sedan, which barreled off the road and into a tree near Ridgewood Avenue and the Glen Gazebo, the attorney general said.
Dukes and 47-year-old passenger Cecil Richardson were pronounced dead at the scene.
A third occupant, Todd Hill, 45, was taken to University Hospital in Newark with unspecified injuries.
SEE: Montclair Pursuit-Crash (YouTube)
Hill recovered, was released and then was indicted by an Essex County grand jury on robbery and weapons charges in connection with the incident.
Meanwhile, Platkin’s staff worked to fulfill state law and their office’s own guidelines requiring them to investigate all deaths in New Jersey that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody."
The investigation by the AG’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is done no matter how obvious or clear-cut the circumstances may be. This protects officers against false claims or suspicions and provides recourse for survivors in the rare instance when a law enforcer is careless or negligent.
Body-worn and dashboard camera footage and audio of a 911 call were collected here before being released.
CLICK HERE for the recordings: Montclair – Dukes, Richardson, Hill
Investigators first shared them with family members of Dukes and Richardson, the attorney general said.
The recordings were then played for grand jurors in Trenton who also reviewed witness interviews, photographs and a medical examiner’s autopsy results.
The panel found no wrongdoing on Kupchak part, filing what’s known as a no bill, Platkin said on Thursday, Sept. 28.
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