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Sunday, apr 28
Tag:
Police Pursuit
Police & Fire
Cleared
: Officer Not At Fault In Fatal South Jersey Stolen Motorcycle Crash, Grand Jury Rules
UPDATE: A New Jersey police officer did nothing wrong in pursuing a stolen motorcycle whose driver ended up dying in a subsequent crash, a grand jury has ruled. Despite the obvious circumstances, state law and administrative guidelines required New Jersey Attorney Matthew Platkin to investigate the death last April 20 of John R. Nutt, 41, of Mount Laurel because a law enforcement officer was involved. Platkin's office released video last July from both the dashcam of the pursuing officer and the bodycam of a colleague who arrived from the opposite direction after the crash. Also relea…
Police & Fire
Close
CALL: Stolen Car Rams Englewood Police Cruiser
An Englewood officer escaped serious injury when a police cruiser was rammed by a driver in a stolen car, authorities said. Several occupants were in the 2019 Honda Pilot when a license plate reader flagged the vehicle – which had been reported stolen out of Elizabeth earlier that day -- shortly after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, Deputy Police Chief Matthew de la Rosa said. Officers tried to stop the SUV on South Dean Street, but it sped off, the deputy chief said. The pursuit headed south on Broad Avenue, where the Pilot slammed into a cruiser, sending it spinning out, he said. The po…
Police & Fire
Grand Jury Backs Officer In Crash With Jersey Shore Armed Burglar That Killed Passenger
UPDATE: A Long Branch police officer bears no responsibility for a crash during a pursuit that killed the suspect’s passenger, a state grand jury has found. Officer Lucas Brito did nothing wrong in pursuing ex-con Altonia Williams -- who was believed to be armed – while responding to a call of a home invasion shortly before 4 a.m. last Aug. 14, the panel found. A subsequent collision killed Tracee Blount, 38, of Long Branch, who was with Williams. State law mandated the grand jury review because a death occurred in an encounter with law enforcement. The reviews are conducted no matter what…
Police & Fire
Watch
: Video Shows Ex-Con Killed In Shootout With Police On Garden State Parkway
Chilling video shows a fleeing ex-con slamming a stolen van into a Garden State Parkway guardrail, emerging through the driver’s side window and exchanging gunfire with police who shoot him dead. Kevin Harlfinger, 40, of Perth Amboy comes through the window firing after the work van smashes head-on into the end of the guardrail at Exit 131 of the southbound Parkway in Woodbridge during a high-speed police pursuit less than two months ago, a collection of videos released by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office shows. Harlfinger, in a hoodie and knit hat, begins climbing out the window an…
Police & Fire
Fleeing Duo In 'Demolition Derby' Crashes With NJ Troopers Near GWB Were Juveniles: State AG
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A driver and passenger involved in a New Jersey State Police pursuit that ended in what one motorist called a "demolition derby" on the NJ Turnpike approach to the George Washington Bridge last week were both juveniles, authorities announced on Monday, Feb. 12. Video shot by motorists showed the driver desperately trying to escape undercover detectives by ramming several police and commuter vehicles with a Range Rover during the morning rush last Wednesday, Feb. 7.The pair were eventually taken into custody, said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin. The attorney general didn…
Police & Fire
New Footage Shows Driver Flipping Box Truck After 50-Mile NJ Turnpike Pursuit
Brand-new footage shows a 21-year-old driver flipping a Penske truck on the NJ Turnpike after leading state police troopers on a nearly 50-mile pursuit. The truck, operated by Joel Espinal, of New York, NY, is seen crossing over the grassy median separating the inner and outer roadways near milepost 101.4 in Elizabeth, New Jersey State Police Detective I Jeffrey Lebron. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Daily Voice NJ (@dailyvoicenewjersey) Joel Espinal Essex County Jail The Penske truck overturns sending a cloud of dust i…
Police & Fire
Update
: Newark Woman, 21, Cops Plea In Robbery, Shooting Spree
A 21-year-old Newark woman hoping to avoid an extended federal prison sentence admitted participating in a violent robbery spree in Jersey City last month in which a fast-food clerk was shot in the chest. Siobhan Chandler, was with ex-con Rodney Williams when he robbed a gas station and store at gunpoint and then shot a restaurant clerk during a third holdup the night of Nov. 14. Police captured both of them after Williams, 31, crashed the getaway car during a pursuit a little over an hour after the spree began. Chandler immediately took a pre-indictment deal from the government in exchang…
Police & Fire
Suspended Driver In Leads High-Speed Pursuit-Crash In Car Stolen Out Of Bridgewater: Police
A 40-year-old suspended driver in a stolen car led police on a high-speed pursuit through Toms River before crashing into another vehicle stopped at a light, police said. Toms River police officer Michael Weg saw a driver later identified as Dylan Panatero in a car reported stolen out of Bridgewater with dealer plates at a traffic light on Route 37 around 11 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, local police said. Weg turned his overhead lights on and tried to approach the vehicle, but Panatero abruptly maneuvered out of the spot and left the parking lot, initiating a pursuit. The suspect con…
Police & Fire
Ring Member Admits Snatching $1.5M Worth Of High-End Vehicles In NJ, Rockland, CT, Long Island
The last of four men caught stealing more than $1.5 million worth of luxury cars in New Jersey, Rockland County, Long Island and Connecticut took a guilty plea on Thursday, federal authorities announced. Like his pals, Malik Baker, 29, of Vauxhall, NJ, took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in federal court in Newark on Oct. 19 to conspiring to transport stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and receiving a stolen vehicle that had crossed state lines after being stolen. U.S. District Judge Esther Salas scheduled Baker's sentencing for March 7, 2024. Baker had remained on the sid…
Police & Fire
Update
: Grand Jurors Clear Montclair Officer In Pursuit That Killed Driver, Passenger
A Montclair police officer did his job properly before a robbery suspect he was pursuing was involved in a crash that killed him and a passenger, a grand jury has found. 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 …
News
Sheriff IDs NJ Woman Found Dead In Tractor-Trailer Outside MD Costco Distribution Center
New details have been released by the Frederick County Sheriff's Office after a woman's body was found dead inside the cab of a tractor-trailer over the weekend. Investigators say that Candice Thompson, 46, has been identified as the victim who was found inside Matthew Sidney Watley's truck after he was busted for allegedly getting behind the wheel while he was intoxicated. Both the driver and victim are from Sicklerville, New Jersey. Watley was charged with multiple counts of murder on Sunday after a curious case outside the Costco Distribution Center on Intercostal Drive in Monrovia. Th…
Police & Fire
Jackson Man Sentenced For Fleeing Police, Ramming Patrol Car
A 21-year-old man from Jackson has been sentenced to five years in New Jersey State Prison for fleeing police and later ramming a patrol car, authorities said. Kevin Valverde-Cruz was sentenced on Friday, Sept. 8, as a result of his previously entered guilty plea to aggravated assault and eluding, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. On Oct. 18, 2022, detectives from the Lakewood Township Police Department observed a white Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling at a high rate of speed, and attempted a motor vehicle stop, Billhimer said. Valverde-Cruz failed to s…
Police & Fire
10 Packed Into Pickup Chased Down By Police, Rush-Hour Traffic Stopped On GS Parkway
Nearly a dozen people packed into a pickup truck stopped weekend rush-hour traffic on the Garden State Parkway after they tried to run from a brigade of area police. A few in the group of mostly juveniles were reportedly seen dashing north on the southbound Parkway toward the New York State border before police nabbed them shortly after 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18. Montvale police seized two adults and eight minors with help from New Jersey State Police, Bergen County sheriff's officers and colleagues from Park Ridge, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River and Woodcliff Lake, Montvale Police C…
Police & Fire
Motorcyclist Fleeing Police Dies, Passenger Seriously Injured In South Jersey Crash
A motorcyclist was killed and a passenger seriously injured in a crash following an attempted police stop in South Jersey, authorities said. The crash occurred on Route 687 West after a Pemberton Township police officer tried to stop the cyclist, who crashed into a civilian's vehicle near the intersection of Davis Street in Pemberton shortly after 5:16 p.m. last Thursday, April 20, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. The as-yet unidentified motorcyclist was killed and a passenger -- also not yet identified -- was seriously injured in the crash, Platkin said. State law and his…
Police & Fire
NJ Driver, 26, Killed In I-95 Police Pursuit In Maryland: AG
A 26-year-old New Jersey woman died when she lost control of her vehicle during a nine-mile police pursuit on I-95 in Maryland on New Year's Weekend, authorities said. A Maryland state trooper tried to pull over Julie Clark, of Tenafly, while she was driving erratically on the highway in Cecil County at approximately 12:10 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, the Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Office of the Attorney General said in a news release. Clark's vehicle had been provided by 911 callers that afternoon, authorities said. Clark failed to stop for the trooper, prompt…
Police & Fire
Police ID Victim, Car Thief In Central Jersey Pursuit-Crash That Left Innocent Bystander Dead
Authorities have charged two people and identified the innocent victim killed by car thieves during a wild police pursuit in Old Bridge on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Samuel Villar, 19, of Somerset, was using the vehicle stolen last month to burglarize cars in Marlboro when police began to pursue the car around 2:15 a.m. up Route 9, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Old Bridge Acting Police Chief Donald F. Fritz, Jr. said. Villar ended up crashing the vehicle near the Spring Valley Road intersection, killing Arturo Tlapa Luna, 33, of Freehold, who was in his vehicle with other mem…
Police & Fire
Wild
Pursuit
: Thieves Crash BMW Before Leading Chase Through Multiple NJ Towns
Three men and a teenager led police on a wild pursuit after crashing a stolen BMW, and then hopping in a Lexus SUV, causing one state trooper to crash his vehicle on the Garden State Parkway over the weekend, authorities said. Trouble began around 2:10 p.m. when troopers responded to a crash on the Garden State Parkway in Hazlet near milepost 11.6 on the northbound side Saturday, Oct. 16, NJSP Sgt. Philip Curry said. While on their way to the crash, troopers were told that four suspects had gotten out of a BMW X4, which was disabled in the left lane due to the crash, and fled on foot. Furt…
News
Mail Thieves Nabbed After Stolen Vehicle Rams Police Car After Chase Through Ramapo Campus: PD
UPDATE: Two thieves who’d been swiping deliveries from residents' mailboxes led Mahwah police on a stolen car chase onto the Ramapo College campus before the vehicle struck an officer's cruiser and they were captured, authorities said. Police who responded to a suspicious vehicle report at the Rio Vista development off Campgaw Road and Route 202 shortly before 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, spotted the 2021 Honda Civic, Capt. Guido Bussinelli said. The vehicle had been reported stolen out of New York City the day before, he said. Detective Sgt. Eric Larsen and Officer Brian Joyce tried …
Police & Fire
Driver Wanted On Warrants Leads Route 202 Pursuit-Crash: Prosecutor
A 25-year-old woman wanted on warrants out of multiple Central Jersey towns arrested for leading a Route 202 police pursuit before crashing, authorities said. Police tried stopping Jerrie Lee Williams, of Bound Brook, around 11:05 p.m. in Branchburg when they noticed she had an expired registration, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said. Williams failed to stop when signaled by the officer activating his emergency police lights and siren, McDonald said. Instead, she fled on Holland Brook Road at a high rate of speed. The officer deactivated his police emergency l…
Police & Fire
Juveniles Arrested After Brandishing Gun, Slashing Tires On Jersey Shore
Two juveniles were arrested in Toms River after brandishing a handgun and then slashing an acquaintance's tires, authorities said. On Wednesday, June 8, at approximately 5 p.m., police were dispatched to Hooper and Claudina avenue for a woman reporting that two juveniles who she was familiar with pulled a handgun on her and her friend and then slashed their vehicle tires with a knife, police said. The suspects were gone upon police arrival. Approximately an hour later Sergeant Chris McDowell observed the suspect vehicle near Route 37 and Hooper Avenue. Following a brief…
News
Police Car Crashes During North Jersey Pursuit
An Englewood police officer escaped serious injury in a crash during a pursuit, authorities confirmed. The thieves had tried to steal a vehicle in the city's East Hill section shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday, Capt. Matthew de la Rosa said. The homeowner came out, however, and they fled, residents said. A short time later, the fleeing vehicle intentionally struck a city police cruiser at the corner of Dana Place and Maple Street, just up the block from East Palisade Avenue, de la Rosa said. The police SUV knocked over a fire hydrant and a stone fence column as the suspects sped off. The o…
News
Occupant In Fleeing Vehicle Dies, Two Others Seized In Jersey Shore Crash, Authorities Say
An Asbury Park police pursuit ended with the death of one occupant, the arrests of two others and the hospitalization of a fourth, authorities confirmed Tuesday. Officers responding to gunfire from near Mt. Olive Holy Temple Church on Atkins Avenue in Neptune City around 7:15 p.m. Sunday tried stopping a car that fled the scene, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said. "The vehicle subsequently crashed less than a mile away in the area of Washington Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in neighboring Neptune Township," Linskey said. The vehicle hit a tree, Acting New Jersey Attorney Gene…
News
Bronx Pair Nabbed In Pair Of Violent North Jersey Carjackings
A pair of violent Bergen County carjackings – one that produced a 110 mph pursuit and another that left a driver wounded – both involved a Bronx man who’s now in custody, authorities said. Authorities have moved to extradite Dariel Perez-Grullon and an accused associate, Luis Guzman-Encarnacion, both 22, to New Jersey to face charges. The first incident literally began and ended in minutes after a 31-year-old livery driver had his Lexus E350 taken by gunpoint outside a home on Pascack Road in Washington Township shortly before 1 a.m. March 23. Paramus police spotted the vehicle soon after …
Police & Fire
2 Dead In Montclair Police Pursuit-Crash: AG
Two people died following a pursuit involving Montclair police Tuesday, May 10 in Glen Ridge, state officials said. Two officers attempted to stop the car on Bloomfield Avenue around 4:30 a.m., but the driver took off, lost control, veered off the roadway then struck a tree, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said in a release. The driver and a passenger were pronounced dead at 9 a.m., while a third occupant was being treated for injuries, the AG's office said. This investigation is being conducted pursuant to Attorney General Directive 2019-4.
News
Pursuits Are Back, And Paramus Police Are Already In The Plus Column
Paramus police -- no longer hamstrung by limits on pursuits -- captured a trio of teenage car thieves who crashed into a tree off Route 17 after they were caught prowling local neighborhoods, authorities said. Officer Kevin Grady was on patrol when he spotted the ski-masked bandits from Kearny scoping out vehicles around Polly Ann Terrace and Ivanhoe Drive in a Honda CRV shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday, May 4, Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. Grady tried to stop the SUV, which had been reported stolen out of Livingston, the chief said. The driver, 19-year-old Jason Cathcart, hit the ga…
News
Flat
Leavers
: Quartet Caught After Abandoning Stolen Car In North Jersey
GOTCHA! The out-of-control auto theft epidemic has frustrated law enforcers throughout New Jersey, but sometimes the good guys catch a break. Just ask police in Wyckoff. It was late morning when a concerned citizen called to report four young occupants abandoning a stolen Mercedes Benz S550 sedan that blew a tire on Route 208. All four vanished into the neighborhood between Cedar Hill and Grandview avenues, the caller said. Instead of splitting up, though, they stuck together. A wave of police from Wyckoff, Midland Park and Hawthorne instantly converged on the area. Wyckoff Police Chief D…
News
Bad-Driving Bandit Arrested By Paramus Police After Smashing Up Stolen Jeep
The driver of a stolen Jeep hit a median, a curb, some bushes and a tree before Paramus police took him into custody, authorities said. And they weren't even chasing him when he crashed. Officer Nicholas Tanelli tried to stop the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee as it sped down southbound Route 17 shortly after 1:30 a.m. Thursday, April 7, Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. A computer check showed it had been stolen out of Mountain Lakes. The driver turned off the Jeep’s lights, then hit a median on westbound Route 4 and kept going, Ehrenberg said. Tanelli immediately terminated the pursuit un…
News
NJ Dad Who Ran After Stolen Car With Son Inside Recounts The Horror, Hopes Others Take Note
A Bergen County dad whose car was stolen with his 11-year-old son still in the back seat said he desperately chased the speeding vehicle on foot terrified by the thought that he'd never see his boy again. Then came a moment of what he suspects was divine intervention. Now Daniel Reiser hopes others can learn from his ordeal. The youngster was "wet and frozen" from a morning soccer game when they pulled into the parking lot of the Chase Bank on County Road near Central Avenue in Tenafly around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 2, Reiser said. "I went into the ATM vestibule just a few feet in…
Police & Fire
Pair Nabbed In BP Station Armed Robbery Linked To Multiple Incidents Across North Jersey: PD
A second arrest has been made in an armed robbery of a BP station and police pursuit last month in Secaucus — and police believe both suspects are responsible for a series of similar incidents across North Jersey, authorities announced. Joseph Brown, 24, of Jersey City, acted as the accomplice to 25-year-old Wendell Bradley, of Bayonne, in the gunpoint robbery of the gas station on Paterson Plank Road on Friday, Feb. 4, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said. Brandley and Brown each pointed a handgun at the gas attendant and robbed him of cash, then fled in a gray Honda Acc…
News
NJ Driver, 18, Shot In Head After Aiming Jeep At Officer In Bronx:
Nypd
An 18-year-old Clifton man was clinging to life after he was shot in the head while driving his Jeep at a New York City police officer following a pursuit in the Bronx, authorities said. Luis Manuel-Monsanto had blown several lights on Boston Road when officers in separate unmarked cars pulled him over at East 165th Street around 8 p.m. Sunday, March 6, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said. Three passengers, including the Jeep's owner, were in the vehicle with him, authorities said. "The officers drove ahead of the vehicle and angled their unmarked police car with the warning lights in f…
News
Gotcha
! Trio Of Broad-Daylight NJ Car Thieves Captured Following Crash
Three car thieves from Newark were captured thanks to a Saddle River resident who suspected something sinister, along with force-multiplying officers from neighboring towns who responded instantly, authorities said. Car thefts not only have skyrocketed recently throughout New Jersey the past few months -- they also occur during the day now, all because of new rules that prevent police pursuits. What local law enforcement officers can rely on, however, are their colleagues and their citizens. This played out in Saddle River -- an affluent suburban town off Route 17 near the New York State b…
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