EDISON — A car chase along Route 1 ended in the arrest of a township man, according to police.
Taleb Ahmed, 33, was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, eluding and DUI in the May 11 incident.
At 10:25 p.m., police received a call from a citizen about a 1996 Lincoln Town Car that was being driven erratically on Evergreen Road. Officer Philip Smith responded to the scene and found the Lincoln in Roosevelt Park, according to Sgt. Robert Dudash.
Smith attempted to stop the car, but Ahmed continued driving and a pursuit ensued along Route 1 south, Dudash said.
“My understanding is, speeds got no higher than 70 mph,” he said.
Traffic congestion near Route 1 south and Forest Haven Boulevard caused Ahmed to stop the car, but not before colliding with an Edison patrol car and causing minor damage, Dudash said.
Officers ordered Ahmed out of the vehicle and, when he did not comply, had to forcibly remove him, according to Dudash. He was arrested after a brief struggle, and was taken to JFK Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries, police said.
Officers suspected Ahmed was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but he refused to provide blood or urine samples, Dudash said. A Superior Court judge provided a telephonic search warrant to draw blood from Ahmed at the hospital, according to Dudash. As of Friday, police were still awaiting the results.
Ahmed is being held on a full $50,000 bail at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick.
The incident was not Ahmed’s first brush with Edison police.
In June 2012, he filed a lawsuit against the township and Police Department — specifically, officers Michael Dotro, Theodore Hamere and Peter Conforte, along with Sgt. Jason Gerba — alleging false arrest and undue force, among other accusations, on the part of the officers in a September 2010 incident, according to court documents.
A grand jury later returned a “no bill” ruling in Ahmed’s case, meaning no criminal charges were being filed against him, court documents state.
In July 2012, the township agreed to settle with Ahmed for $27,500.