Pair escapes police after Rt. 18 chase in stolen car
EAST BRUNSWICK — Police are looking for two men who led them on a chase Saturday afternoon through heavy traffic on Route 18 and on the New Jersey Turnpike in a car stolen from the Brunswick Square Mall.
Police were notified at 4:40 p.m. by a 20-year-old South River man that his white 1990 Honda had just been stolen from the mall parking lot by two suspects described as Hispanic males.
The pursuit began after a description of the stolen vehicle was broadcast over the police radio and Patrolman Robert Zielinski saw the vehicle heading north on Route 18 near Cranbury Road. The officer tried to stop the vehicle, but the suspects continued on and, in an apparent attempt to elude the officer, drove into the Mobil gas station at Route 18 near Parker Street. They exited onto Highland Street and then went back onto Route 18 northbound.
In heavy traffic as they approached the intersection at Edgeboro Road, the suspects were in the center lane but began weaving between the center and right lanes, striking two cars in the process, according to a police report. The suspects then struck a police car that was blocking it from moving forward, pushed it out of the way and continued on Route 18.
"Driving recklessly," the suspects then turned off Route 18 into a residential neighborhood before re-entering Route 18 and exiting onto the New Jersey Turnpike northbound, according to police.
After officers pursued the suspects for about two miles on the turnpike, at speeds up to 90 mph, the chase was terminated for safety purposes. The suspects were last seen exiting at Interchange 10 in Edison. The stolen vehicle was located later that same day, having been abandoned in Edison. The suspects were still at large Tuesday, police said.