46°
Detective Christopher Fasulo was in an unmarked police vehicle when he said he saw the man’s 2005 Subaru Legacy drift over the double-yellow line twice on Ramapo Valley Road (Route 202) around 9:45 p.m. July 7.
A third time it appeared that the steering wheel had been "jerked," sending the wagon “so far into the oncoming lane that a collision with a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction would have been [imminent]," the detective reported.
Fasulo stopped the Subaru near the Mahwah Bar & Grill and had the driver pull into the parking lot.
The driver, who was "sweating profusely," told him that he was a retired U.S. Army officer, he said.
The Paterson native was "visibly upset for an unknown reason and stated people were following him," the detective added.
Fasulo said he called for backup while speaking to the man for a second time because "he appeared so upset I felt he may be having some [kind] of mental crisis. He appeared as if he was about to cry."
Fasulo said he asked how he could help.
The man "began to speak about people following him and pointed out vehicles passing in the area,” the detective said. “He also informed me that if I was a real police officer, others would have arrived already."
The driver had his door open, with one foot out of the vehicle, when he suddenly said, “I’m outta here,” according to Fasulo.
He sped off on Island Road, made a hard right onto West Ramapo Avenue and sped across an overpass, ignoring a stop sign as he headed onto southbound Route 17, the detective said.
A uniformed Ramsey police officer in a marked vehicle took over the chase just past the MacArthur Boulevard exit into Ramsey.
The driver eventually slowed down and turned off into the Best Western parking lot.
"I need to talk to the FBI," he said, as backups arrived and the officers took him into custody.
Fasulo said the driver was "extremely apologetic" as he was put into the back of a patrol car.
He told police at headquarters that he'd been awake for two days because people were following him.
He said he'd planned on renting a hotel room in Mahwah, "but the people in the lobby seemed familiar."
He "acknowledged the fact that he could have been injured or injured someone else during the pursuit and apologized many times."
When police asked how they could help him, he said that he didn't want to "put my problems on you. That's not fair."
He did agree to speak with a mental health professional, so police took him to New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for an evaluation.
They charged him with eluding and reckless driving, as well as failing to signal twice, keep right or observe a traffic sign, along with driving an unregistered vehicle.
He was scheduled for a first court appearance this Friday in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
NOTE: This account was produced from a police report that the township required Daily Voice to request under New Jersey's Open Public Records Act (OPRA).
Click here to follow Daily Voice Highland Lakes-Vernon and receive free news updates.
