Female Pedestrian Struck, Killed During Police Pursuit Of Carjacked Vehicle In Newark
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A police chase in Newark came to a deadly conclusion late Saturday when authorities say a violent crash involving the vehicle officers were following pinned a woman between two parked cars.
As sirens blared, a high-speed police chase came to an end and neighbors on South 14th Street woke up to a lot of chaos, CBS2's Reena Roy reported Sunday evening.
"I turn around and you see the car go (makes noise) hit the car," witness Gery Evans said. "There was a group of people standing there talking. They tried to get out of the way and the girl didn't make it and got crushed between the two bumpers of those two cars over there."
"I came outside and saw a woman pinned underneath her car," neighbor William Hynes added.
Good Samaritans immediately stepped in, realizing that the 29-year-old woman was stuck. Several people were seen trying to lift the car off of her.
"That had to be one of the scariest moments of my life. We didn't know if she was dead or not," Evans said. "We were frantically trying to move the car, but we couldn't get it to budge."
When that car was finally moved emergency workers found Newark resident Priscilla Godoy. Prosecutors said she later died at University Hospital. They said a stolen SUV rammed into another car, which then hit her as she crossed the street at around 10:45 p.m., pinning her between two parked cars.
"That's terrible because we were all praying for her last night. We were all really wishing she would come through," Hynes said.
"When I walk down the street, I see her come in dropping groceries with her kids," neighbor Everett Lewis added.
Investigators said the chase began in East Orange when two men in a stolen Jeep Cherokee carjacked someone at gunpoint. They said the Jeep was also believed to be involved in an earlier shooting. Newark police spotted the vehicle and then followed it. After the crash, neighbors said they spotted at least one suspect run off through a yard.
"All it takes is five seconds for someone to lose their life, all because of something stupid," Hynes said.
No arrests have been made as the crash remains under investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reported.
