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Parris Lamont Dennis, 18, of Jamaica, Queens, and Shahiem X. McCrimmon, 19, of the Bronx bailed out but were caught after bystanders advised police of their movements shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15,
They were taken into custody without incident, Paramus Deputy Police Chief Robert M. Guidetti said.
A Saddle River police officer began chasing the 2019 Honda Civic with Vermont license plates down southbound Route 17 a short time earlier after determining it had been stolen.
The pursuit was broken off for safety reasons, Saddle River Police Chief Jason Cosgriff said.
Meanwhile, officers in plain clothes searched the area.
Paramus police spotted the Honda soon after. They, too, broke off a pursuit out of safety concerns.
The Civic crashed into two vehicles stopped in traffic moments later at one of the most notorious bottlenecks in North Jersey -- the Route 4 entrance from Route 17 -- sending both men running.
A 41-year-old Westwood woman who was driving the first car was taken to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood with what Guidetti said appeared to be a minor injury in the pileup.
With help from citizens -- some of whom called 911 -- Paramus police converged on Farview Avenue, where Officer Dan DeRienzo spotted Dennis and McCrimmon at Farview Terrace.
DeRienzo began chasing them through backyards as fellow Officers Theodore Cebulski, David Polanco and Chris Bores quickly arrived.
Dennis, who'd been driving, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault while eluding, as well as resisting arrest, eluding and possession of a stolen vehicle. He also received traffic summonses for reckless, careless and unsafe driving.
McCrimmon was charged with possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.
Both remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
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