Police: N.J. Driver Refused To Stop At Checkpoint, Caused 2 Crashes
PALISADES PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A mother and her young child were shaken up Tuesday night, and a police officer was injured after a driver allegedly refused to stop at a checkpoint and led to a pair of crashes in New Jersey.
As CBS 2's Jessica Schneider reported, the crashes left a minivan demolished, and a sport-utility vehicle smashed into a building.
Ridgefield police told CBS 2 the chain of events started at a checkpoint at Grand Avenue and Route 46 around 7 p.m., when a suspect in a minivan did not stop.
The minivan driver instead slammed into a Ridgefield police cruiser, and the officer inside was injured, Schneider reported.
Witnesses said they also saw a police pursuit, which continued from Ridgefield to a site just a few streets away in Palisades Park, witnesses said.
The SUV got caught up in the commotion and also came to a crash, possibly as part of the pursuit, into an AT&T store on Broad Street, police said.
CBS 2's cameras got to the scene just as the driver of the SUV, a young mother, was sitting on the sidewalk with her young child.
She was shaken as CBS 2 approached her to ask how her car ended up crashing into this building. She said she was "OK."
Witness Charlie Park of Palisades Park described what he saw.
"I was working here, but suddenly the car just crash the store; there was a siren going on," Park said. "I don't' know – it's like, 'boom, crash,' -- that's it.'"
Police as of 11 p.m. had just cleared the first accident scene where the checkpoint happened.
The police officer's injuries were not life-threatening. The investigation continued late Tuesday night.
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