Two men arrested after fleeing traffic stop in stolen car and crashing into parked vehicle, house in Morris County

MENDHAM TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Morris County) — Two Sayreville men are facing a series of criminal charges after police said a vehicle fled a traffic stop early Sunday, crashed into a parked car and a house in Mendham Township, and was later linked to a burglary in Chester Township.

According to Mendham Township police, an officer on patrol shortly after midnight on Dec. 7 observed a vehicle with an altered license plate intended to conceal its characters. When the officer attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver accelerated and tried to elude police.

The vehicle eventually drove into a driveway at the end of Thackery Lane, where it struck a parked vehicle and then part of a house, police said. Both the driver and passenger fled on foot but were apprehended after brief pursuits.

Police identified the driver as Matthew Gehring and the passenger as Justin Nowicki, both of Sayreville. Officers said the men were found in possession of crack pipes. A safe, burglary tools and cash were also located at the scene and inside the vehicle — which police later determined had been stolen — linking the pair to a burglary that had occurred minutes earlier at the Delta gas station in Chester Township.

Gehring and Nowicki were accused of multiple offenses, including possession of stolen property, eluding police, possession of drug paraphernalia, obstruction and criminal mischief. Both were taken to the Morris County Correctional Facility.

Mendham Township police thanked the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, Mendham Borough Police and Chester Police for assisting in the incident.

The investigation remains ongoing, authorities said.