Officials: Man Arrested For Police Chase, Crash That Injured Elderly Woman In Newark
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police have arrested a man who they said seriously injured an elderly woman while fleeing from officers in Newark Thursday morning.
The Essex County prosecutor's office said 20-year-old Nathaniel Young, of Rahway, is charged with eluding police, assault with a vehicle, and knowingly leaving the scene of an accident where there was serious bodily injury.
The prosecutor's office said police were pursuing Young in a gold 2002 Nissan Sentra at a high rate of speed around 11:45 a.m. when he struck a Mercury Sable, then hit a 79-year-old woman who was walking her dog in a baby carriage on Clifton Avenue near Branch Brook Park.
The victim, Joan Mendelson, was taken to the hospital and remains in critical but stable condition, the prosecutor's office said. Her dog was uninjured.
Young then fled on foot after crashing the car into a fence, CBS2's Meg Baker reported.
Fellow pet owners in the Colonnade Apartment complex said Mendelson and her small poodle named Archie are fixtures in the neighborhood.
"We just casually talked out here, very friendly lady," Gladys Paul said.
"She walks around the building or over by the park," Pashal added.
They said Mendelson took the dog for walks in a stroller because he has arthritis.
"She walked very slowly," said one neighbor.
"She's small and frail, very frail," said another neighbor.
The driver of the Mercury Sable and a passenger suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Young is being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark on $100,000 bail.