High-Speed Chase Ends With Crash, 5 Arrests, Police Say

A shirtless man seen sprinting across Interstate 280 Monday morning as police transported a stolen vehicle that crashed while trying to elude authorities was the fifth person arrested who are believed to be part of a larger car theft ring targeting the area.

Five people were arrested after leading multiple police departments on a high-speed chase through Essex Fells before crashing into a building on Eagle Rock Avenue, police said.

The chase began when West Caldwell Police attempted to pull over a black Jeep traveling on Central Avenue around 3:15 a.m. Monday. Disregarding police sirens, the Jeep sped up and pulled onto Bloomfield Avenue, Chief of the Essex Fells Police Department Vincent Kulik said.

By the time the Jeep turned onto Roseland Avenue, Caldwell Police also joined the pursuit. 

The Jeep led police cruisers on a chase down the entire 1.7-mile stretch of Roseland Avenue, Kulik said. When the Jeep tried to turn right onto Eagle Rock Avenue, Kulik said it clipped an Essex Fells police cruiser and crashed into a building in the 170-block of Eagle Rock Avenue. 

The five people in the Jeep fled from the car, four of whom were immediately caught and arrested, Kulik said. By that time, the police departments of Caldwell, North Caldwell, West Caldwell, Roseland and Essex Fells were on scene. 

The fifth person in the Jeep was arrested later in the morning when Essex Fells police were transporting the Jeep to a crime-scene garage in Orange on I-280. The officer caught sight of a shirtless man sprinting across the highway, Kulik said.

Kulik said after a quick investigation, the agencies believed that shirtless man was involved in the high-speed chase and he was arrested. 

All together, police arrested two men, one woman, and an under-aged boy and girl, Kulik said. The names and charges have yet to be released.

The Jeep was stolen out of Bernardsville, in Somerset County, and had stolen license plates from Newark.

The Essex Fells police officer in the cruiser that was hit did not receive any injuries, but was sent to a local hospital for an evaluation. The police cruiser did not sustain severe damage, Kulik added.  

The Jeep ended up crashing through trees and planters on the sidewalk of Eagle Rock Avenue. On Monday afternoon, a repairman was working on the door at 175 Eagle Rock Ave., which sustained minor damage from the crash. 

Authorities also strongly believe these five people are part of a larger group who have stolen more than a dozen cars in the county since January—most recently one in Essex Fells this past Saturday. 

“There is a very strong possibility that they are a part of a ring we have been having in the past few months ... throughout the West Essex area,” Kulik said. “This is quite a ring from what we can tell.”