The stolen vehicle was being pursued by officers from the Cranford police department when it crashed on the southbound side of the highway in Woodbridge on Dec. 28, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.
The car thief and a Cranford officer exchanged gunfire, and the car thief was pronounced dead just after 12 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 29, the AG's office said.
A firearm was recovered near the driver, and the officer was hospitalized, and subsequently released, with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
The name of the deceased was not immediately being released.
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