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Officer John Mullins was patrolling near Hasbrouck Heights High School around 12:27 p.m. when he spotted a driver later identified as Joel Ventura in a blue Mercedes SUV making an improper turn, Hasbrouck Heights Police Lt. John Behr said. As Mullins turned his patrol vehicle around, the SUV sped away out of sight.
Shortly after, Mullins came across a crash at Paterson Avenue and the Boulevard involving a vehicle struck by a blue Mercedes SUV. Witnesses reported seeing the Mercedes flee east on Paterson Avenue, according to police.
Moments later, Class 3 SLEO Officer Robert Meurer, stationed at Lincoln Elementary School, alerted police that the same SUV had crashed into a utility pole outside the school. Meurer immediately put the school into a shelter-in-place protocol, called for backup, and rushed toward the crash.
Police Chief Joseph Rinke, along with multiple officers and emergency responders, arrived to secure the scene. The Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department and PSEG were also on-site to handle the utility pole damage.
Ventura, was taken into custody without incident. His passenger was treated and released at the scene, while an adult male injured in the earlier crash was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
Ventura was charged with obstruction, possessing false government documents, and assault by auto. He also received multiple traffic summonses, including reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, failure to report an accident, and operating an unregistered and uninsured vehicle with fictitious license plates.
“Chief Rinke credits his officers and the Lincoln School Class 3 SLEO for an outstanding job in apprehending this reckless driver near two of our borough schools,” the department said in a statement.
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