19-year-old, 3 juveniles charged after pursuit in stolen Mercedes ends in crash in Morris County
HANOVER TOWNSHIP, NJ (Morris County) – A 19-year-old and three juveniles were charged after a pursuit in a stolen Mercedes ends in a crash in Hanover Township.
On June 19, an officer observed a Mercedes Benz driving at a high rate of speed with tinted front windows and an expired inspection sticker. The officer checked the license plate of the vehicle and was alerted that it was reported stolen out of Pennsylvania, police said.
When the officer began to close the gap with the Mercedes Benz the driver accelerated and refused to stop for activated lights and sirens, police said.
The vehicle continued to drive recklessly in attempt to elude the officer until it crashed into another vehicle and became disabled on Ridgedale Ave by Wing Drive. The four occupants of the stolen Mercedes Benz immediately exited the vehicle and began running towards the businesses on Wing Drive, police said.
Officers were able to apprehend one of the juveniles immediately but the other three disappeared from their sight on Wing Drive, police said.
Additional Hanover Township Officers and Officer’s from Morris Plains, Morris Township, Parsippany, Florham Park, Morris County Sheriff’s Office and the Morris County Department of Law and Public Safety responded and set up a perimeter, police said.
After a search of the area, which included the use of drones, K-9’s and the New Jersey State Police helicopter, all 4 suspects were apprehended without incident. One was located attempting to enter an Uber, another one was found hiding in a small ravine in the area and the last one was found hiding in an unlocked car in the parking lot of 3 Wing Drive, police said.
A loaded handgun was recovered from the Mercedes Benz, police said.
The three juveniles from Newark and Irvington were charged with riding in a vehicle knowing it’s taken without owners consent, obstruction, resisting arrest, receiving stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with no serial number and unlawful taking means of conveyance. One juvenile was additionally charged with prescription legend drugs and theft, police said.
Noel Kamara, 19, of Newark NJ was charged with eluding, obstruction, resisting arrest, receiving stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with no serial number, burglary, hindering, and assault by auto. He was also issued motor vehicle summonses for speeding, failure to signal, improper letting off of passengers, leaving scene of an accident, failure to obey stop light and stop sign, unlicensed, failure to stop for pedestrians, wrong way, willfully disabling a vehicle, traffic on a marked lane, leaving vehicle running, leaving scene of accident with property damage, improper passing, careless driving, reckless driving, failure to use caution near pedestrians, failure to pull over for emergency vehicles, obstruction, failure to report an accident, and delaying traffic. He also had an active no bail warrant out of Newark, police said.
Kamara was transported to the Morris County Correctional Facility pending a court appearance. The three juveniles were all transported to the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center, police said.
