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Officer James Serio had to quickly switch lanes to avoid hitting Mark Rodriguez, 35, at 1:45 a.m. Friday, Aug 4, Police Chief James Walters said.Lt. John Andronaco, who witnessed the incident, stopped Rodriguez for questioning
Rodriguez, who wasn't carrying identification, gave the name Victor Rivera and a different birth date than his, adding that he'd "been arrested in the past and should be in our system," Walters said.
A search came back a blank, so Andronaco and Serio asked Rodriguez for his Social Security number, which he said he didn't know, the chief said.
Rodriguez "began to become more nervous and agitated" while telling the officers that he was staying with a woman at a nearby motel on Route 46 in South Hackensack, Walters said.
He said she had to book the room because he had no ID, but he didn't know her name, the chief said.Andronaco at that point told him that his identity could be determined by fingerprinting at police headquarters -- at which point Rodriguez bolted down the highway, he said.
Fernandes quickly tackled Rodriguez, who tried to fight him off, then subdued him with help from the lieutenant, Walters said.
Andronaco injured his hand and was taken by an EMS unit to Hackensack University Medical Center for stitches, the chief said.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, "continued to be uncooperative" at headquarters, refusing to be fingerprinted and not producing any proof of identity, he said.
Rodriguez eventually relented, then complained of a leg injury, Walters said. He refused attention when paramedics arrived, however.
Rodriguez, who was wanted on a warrant out of Teterboro and another out of Maryland, was charged with two counts of resisting arrest by force, hindering his arrest and jaywalking.He was sent to the Bergen County Jail, where the Anne Arundel County (MD) Sheriff's Office placed a detainer on him.
Should a judge in Hackensack order Rodriguez's release -- under the bail reform law, for instance -- the sheriff's office from Maryland could have him remain held for extradition.
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