New Details, Video Released In Crash That Killed Hudson County Dispatcher, 2nd Driver

NORTH BERGEN, NJ — A Jersey City man who crashed into a police dispatcher's car in North Bergen in September, killing both men, was driving at high speed and crossed into oncoming traffic, the state Attorney General said Tuesday night.

Joseph Aziz, 20, was driving a stolen car when he crashed into the car driven by North Bergen police dispatcher Bryan Rivera, 24, the attorney general's office said, as authorities released new information and videos of the Sept. 29 North Bergen crash.

Aziz was headed south on Tonnelle Avenue shortly after 11 p.m. when he committed an unspecified traffic violation at the intersection with 70th Street, the attorney general's office said at the time. North Bergen Police Lt. Jason Appello, who was patrolling in a marked police car, saw it and began following Aziz.

Aziz, who was driving a stolen Honda Accord, took off at high speed, authorities said, twice crossing into oncoming traffic in the northbound lanes as he passed several vehicles at a time.

At 11:18 p.m., between 50th and 51st streets, Aziz hit the Toyota Corolla driven by Rivera, who had three passengers. Aziz also had a passenger; that passenger and Rivera's passengers were taken to a hospital for treatment, the office said.

Videos Released

Videos released Tuesday night by the attorney general's office show the crash and the pursuit that led up to it.

A compliation of surveillance videos show Aziz nearly run the red light at 70th Street as he reaches it at high speed. He stops to allow a car to turn left from 70th Street onto Tonnelle, then moments later takes off while his light is still red. Audio picks up the sound of squealing tires as he accelerates to leave.

Appello's police SUV can be seen headed north on Tonnelle, and then it makes a U-turn after Appello sees Aziz speeding up to the light. The surveillance videos show Aziz repeatedly in the northbound lanes, in one case passing several vehicles stopped at a red light, and narrowly missing at least one other car before the crash with Rivera. Debris can be seen scattered all over the road after the crash.

A second video is from the dashcam of a vehicle that was traveling behind Rivera in the right lane. It shows Rivera's car traveling along and then being hit by Aziz's car. The force of the crash sending Rivera's car spinning at least twice before it hits the front of the vehicle with the dashcam.

Appello arrives moments later, lights flashing.

Separate audio contains a male voice saying, "Get me EMS now, the road closed ... I need EMS! I need FD!"

The attorney general's office said the families of Rivera and Aziz were given an opportunity to review the recordings before they were released.

The recordings and video are available here.

READ MORE: Police Dispatcher And Civilian ID'd As Victims In Double Fatal Hudson County Crash