Man Charged After Pursuit Through 2 NJ Counties Ends In Crash
PASSAIC, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A police pursuit that went through two counties in northern New Jersey ended when the driver crashed his vehicle into a highway barrier.
Authorities say 53-year-old John Richart, of Elmwood Park, was charged with drunken driving, eluding and possession of drug paraphernalia after he was captured early Wednesday in North Bergen.
The chase began around 4 a.m. Wednesday in Paterson. It initially began because an officer mistakenly thought he had witnessed a carjacking.
The pursuit then went through a few other towns in Passaic County and two Paterson police cruisers were damaged in a crash that occurred in Passaic.
Surveillance video from inside a Metro PCS store on Main Avenue shows a car speed past and then moments later, a Paterson patrol car crashes through the store's front windows.
"I went to my cameras and seen all this mess," store owner Mohamad Albedawe told CBS2's Raegan Medgie.
Albedawe arrived on the scene after he received a startling wake-up call from his security system.
"Glass everywhere, all the glass shattered in the store, on the sidewalk. It's a big mess," he said. "I'm glad it happened early in the morning, nobody around, nobody got hurt. That's all I care about."
The officer driving the car that crashed through the windows was injured and taken to the hospital, but has since been treated and released.
The chase eventually entered Hudson County and ended there a short time later.
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