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Lt. Brian Pullman and Officer Paul Knapp spotted a damaged BMW 535 that apparently was involved in a crash at the corner of North Maple and Franklin avenues in Ridgewood around 7 p.m. Thursday, Police Chief Jacqueline Luthcke said.
As they approached with their cruiser's lights and sirens activated, the driver attempted to pull to the curb, hit it, then kept going, the chief said.
"The vehicle continued to be driven in an unsafe manner, mounting the curb [with the driver] refusing to stop," Luthcke said Friday.
Her officers initially pursued the vehicle at speeds not exceeding 50 miles an hour, then broke it off and notified surrounding towns before the sedan entered Paramus, she said.
The BMW hit two more vehicles before coming to a stop in the parking lot of Home Goods on northbound Route 17.
The driver, Mahmoud Ahmed, 23, of East Orange bailed out but was quickly captured by Paramus police, who turned him over to their Ridgewood colleagues.
Ahmed was charged with resisting arrest by flight in a motor vehicle, driving under the influence of drugs and having drugs without a prescription. He was sent to the Bergen County Jail, where he remained Friday pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
He also received several traffic and motor vehicle summonses, Luthcke said.
No serious injuries were reported.
Boyd A. Loving took the photos at the scene / INSET: Bergen County Jail
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