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Christopher J. Williams, 49, of Paterson was a passenger in a 2000 Lexus stopped by South Hackensack Police Officer Kyle Skelley in the parking lot of the Dunkin’ Donuts on the eastbound highway in Little Ferry shortly before noon Friday.
Skelley asked the agitated driver – identified as 31-year-old Samantha Boseski of Clifton – to step out of the sedan, Detective Sgt. James Donatello said.
At that point, Williams suddenly hopped into the driver’s seat and sped off, he said.
Skelly and backup Officer Steven McAllister pursued Williams while Officer Joseph Applegate arrested Boseski for outstanding warrants, Donatello said.
The pursuing officers were quickly joined by colleagues from Little Ferry, Moonachie, and Ridgefield Park, the sergeant said.
Hitting 80 miles an hour, the Lexus jumped the raised median and headed into oncoming traffic on what’s always a busy stretch of road, particularly that time of day.
Williams -- who's on parole after serving federal prison time for a gun conviction -- lost control of the sedan at the intersection of Liberty Street and crashed into a pole.
He got out and tried to run before collapsing in the parking lot of a nearby gas station, Donatello said.
Skelley and Applegate grabbed Williams, who “quickly turned from suspect to patient,” telling them that he’d “swallowed several bags of heroin and didn't want to die,” the sergeant said.
Officers administered Narcan before members of the Moonachie First Aid and Rescue Squad took over.
Williams was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he has remained in police custody while being treated.
Williams – whose more than 30-year adult rap sheet includes arrests for robbery, aggravated assault on police and drug and weapons offenses – is charged with two heroin possession counts, resisting arrest, eluding and destruction of evidence.
Boseski, who also has a criminal record that began when she was 18, was charged with two heroin possession counts, as well as hindering and having false government documents that included a bogus vehicle insurance card.
She was turned over to the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and remained held in the county jail Saturday for two outstanding warrants out of Paterson, records show.
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ALSO SEE: Wood-Ridge police identified and charged a borough boy with being the driver of a speeding sedan that side-swiped a borough police cruiser and kept going, authorities said Saturday.
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