Two Men Found Guilty of Leading Police on Chase

Two city men who led Newark police on a car and foot chase in 2011 were convicted by a jury in Newark Tuesday, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Jahan Allen, 28, and Nathaniel Broadnax, 30, were spotted by police May 5, 2011, in a car that had been reported carjacked in Elizabeth. Allen, who was behind the wheel, drove off when police attempted to pull the car over at Littleton and South Orange avenues.

After a lengthy pursuit, Allen stopped the car at a construction roadblock and ran off, jumping about 25 feet off a NJ Transit overpass. He was arrested by waiting Newark police officers and found with 22 pills of a drug known as BZP.

Broadnax, who has prior convictions for manslaughter and weapons offenses,  also tried to escape and fought with police before being placed under arrest. Broadnax was also sentenced in January to nearly four years in prison for violating a law prohibiting felons from owning firearms. 

When they’re sentenced May 10,  Allen faces 5 to 10 years in state prison and  Broadnax faces 3 to 5 years in state prison.