Newark, NJ - Teen Steals Police Car - Slams Into 2 Park Cars - Injures 2 Pedestrians

Cop car stolen during student melee, police say
Suspect crashes into two parked cars during incident at Barringer High
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

 

As Newark cops tried to break up an after-school melee near Barringer High School yesterday, an 18-year-old man stole the keys to one of their cruisers and drove off, slamming into two parked cars and injuring two people, police said.

The 3 p.m. fight attracted dozens of students to the intersection of North 5th Street and Park Avenue, witnesses said.

According to police, officers pulled up and noticed several students jumping on another student, and started chasing them. In the confusion, the keys to patrol car No. 213 fell from an officer's belt.

One of the combatants, who police identified as former Barringer student Arturo Reyes, allegedly grabbed the keys and jumped into the patrol car. His joyride lasted about 50 feet before he crashed.

Aristide Suarez was standing outside La Roca night club and watched the police cruiser collide with his brother-in-law's 2006 Toyota Camry.

"There were 100 kids or more, running, fighting, so it was hard to tell what was going on," Suarez said.

Jameel Bowen, 13, said his friend Matt was struck in the leg by one of the cars in the crash as he walked on the Park Avenue sidewalk. Kirsten Majette, a 15-year-old Barringer sophomore, said the second victim, a girl, was clipped in the leg by the stolen cruiser as she crossed the street.

Police spokesman Detective Todd McClendon said he could not corroborate the witnesses' accounts. He said the two pedestrians were both injured when one of the parked cars jumped the curb after getting hit by the stolen cruiser. Both were in stable condition at University Hospital, McClendon said.

Some witnesses said the thief was already in police custody when he stole the cruiser, but McClendon said that was not accurate.

Immediately after the crash, officers pulled Reyes from the cruiser, put him into another police car and drove him away, police said. More officers arrived and dispersed the crowd.

Reyes was charged with theft, aggravated assault and weapons offenses, police said.

There were no other injuries or arrests, McClendon said.

Students and school officials said the melee was related to an earlier brawl inside Barringer around 1 p.m. After school let out, at 2:30 p.m., several combatants reconvened at North 5th Street and Park Avenue, on the other side of Branch Brook Park.

Several students said the fight pitted African-American students against Hispanic students, but school officials denied that

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