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Totowa police in marked vehicles followed the gas-powered scooter into Paterson, apparently over the 31st Street Bridge over the Passaic River.
The moped then collided with a Lexus at the intersection of McBride and Murray avenues shortly before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, according to a release issued Friday by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.The scooter driver was thrown against the windshield, smashing it, witnesses said.
His identity is being withheld for now, Platkin's release says.
Both he and his passenger were taken to St. Joseph's University Medical Center, where the driver was pronounced dead at 2:06 a.m. Thursday, it says.
The moped passenger and the Lexus occupants all sustained injuries that the release says weren't life-threatening.
Both state law and his own guidelines require Platkin's office to investigate any and all deaths that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody."
This is done no matter what the circumstances are.
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is conducted “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas.
Once the investigation by the AG's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury “in a neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency.”
The panel of civilians reviews evidence that includes interviews of witnesses, photographs, footage from body-worn and dashboard cameras, as well as from surveillance cameras and cellphones to determine whether or not there was cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
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