The one-car crash occurred about 3:30 a.m. on Route 4 west near Best Western.

FORT LEE - The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office was investigating an accident early Tuesday that left at least three people hurt, authorities said.

The one-car crash occurred about 3:30 a.m. on Route 4 west near Best Western, police said.

Three people were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Police first said the injuries were non-life threatening, but later reported some of the injuries were serious.

"It's not a fatal accident, but the injuries have been upgraded," said Fort Lee police Sgt. Mark Radoian.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to a request for additional details.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Michael Yun was first elected to the council in 2013.

As Hudson County voters are heading to the polls in the final hours of today's presidential primaries, Jersey City Councilman Michael Yun will be in Fort Lee raising money for a possible mayoral bid in 2017.

According to an invitation obtained by The Jersey Journal -- and written mostly in Korean -- Yun supporters are gathering at Fort Lee restaurant Poong Lim B.B.Q. tonight and are being asked to donate between $250 and $2,600, the maximum contribution an individual can make to a campaign.

The invite, which says it was paid for by "Friends of Michael Yun," calls Yun's possible mayoral candidacy a "new beginning" and stresses that the New York metropolitan area is due for a Korean mayor. The top of the invite refers to a "steering committee for mayor."

Yun, 62, a longtime Jersey Heights businessman who in 2013 became the first Korean-born member of the City Council, confirmed details of the fundraiser and that he is mulling a bid for mayor next year. He's not ready to declare himself a candidate until he knows how much money he can raise, he said.

"Bottom line, to run for mayor is based on how much you raise, especially in Jersey City," he said.

Yun is one of only two City Council members who aren't allies of Mayor Steve Fulop. He has been sharply critical of the administration's policy on tax abatements, saying the long-term tax breaks aren't necessary to lure developers to build here. Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano, the other Fulop critic on the council, is also weighing a 2017 run for mayor.

The Yun fundraiser locale is interesting for a councilman who was been dogged by allegations that he doesn't truly live in Jersey City (he owns a home in Montville). But Census figures show Fort Lee has one of the largest populations of residents who were born in Korea, at 16.5 percent. In nearby Palisades Park, the figure is 35.6 percent. Less than 1 percent of Jersey City's population was born in Korea.

Yun said a friend of his is hosting the event outside of Jersey City to keep away special interests.

"I don't want them involved in my campaign," he said.

Yun made some noise last week when he took offense to Councilman-at-large Daniel Rivera referring to a speech Yun gave during a council meeting as "gibberish." Yun said the comment was aimed at his heavily accented English. Rivera denied that, saying he was criticizing the content of Yun's remarks.

The next mayoral race is in May 2017. If voters approve a referendum in November backed by Fulop, city elections will move to November 2017.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.

 

A look at Tuesday's semifinals.

A look at Tuesday's semifinals.

A look at Tuesday's results and links from the Group semifinals.

A look at Tuesday's results and links from the Group semifinals.

Results for the primary elections in Bergen County.

Voters select Democratic and Republican standard-bearers in contested elections throughout Bergen County on primary night.

These are the races up for grabs, with up-to-date unofficial results.

Please be sure to refresh. Results will be updated throughout the evening.

Sheriff

One three-year term

[?] Michael Saudino (D) - 47,825 votes

[?] Manuel V. Alfonso (R) - 25,518

Clerk

One five-year term

[?] John S. Hogan (D) - 47,159

[?] Hector Olmo (R) - 25,183

Surrogate

One five-year term

[?] Michael R. Dressler (D) - 46,588

Robert W. Avery (R) - 24,139

Sabaudin Skenderi (R) - 2,284

Freeholder

Three three-year terms

Mary J. Amoroso (D) - 39,229

Germaine M. Ortiz (D) - 41,633

Dana A. Hall (D) - 18,980

Amy A. Heller (D) - 18,386

Thomas J. Sullivan (D) - 39,568

Maura R. DeNicola (R) - 23,729

John J. Driscoll Jr. (R) - 23,652

Robert A. Didio (R) - 22,392

John W. Zoller (R) - 3,137

Paul R. Fisher (R) - 3,001

Richard A. Marshall (R) - 3,085

Two three-year terms

Ari G. Bernstein (R) - 479

Stephen J. Sasso (R) - 440

Two three-year terms

[?] Gayle Gerstein (D) - 83

[?] John Halbreich (D) - 81

Two three-year terms

Cynthia Naylis (R)

John M. Long (R)

Salvador S. Deauna (D)

Ora C. Kornbluth (D)

Two three-year terms

John G. Mitchell (R) - 175

Michael T. Connors (R) - 178

Kathryn Gates-Ferri (D) - 474

Martha E. Reilly (D) - 463

One one-year term

Carmen P. Diaz (R) - 172

Mazie A. Shuler (D) - 466

Two three-year terms

Richard E. Bartlett (R) - 220

David A. Stoltz (R) - 226

Susan E. Hamilton (D) - 246

William Herity (D) - 243

Two three-year terms

Kenneth Corcoran (D) - 1,416

Peter Colao (D) - 1,415

Two three-year terms

Victoria Roti Amitai (R) - 314

Joseph Yammarino (R) - 317

Scott M. Devlin (D) - 474

Philip Goldberg (D) - 468

Two three-year terms

Simone Tsigounis (R) - 268

Mark Spina (R) - 281

Two three-year terms

Joseph N. Connolly (R) - 158

Joseph Gray (R) - 147

Melinda J. Iannuzzi (D) - 392

James M. Carroll (D) - 363

One one-year term

Michael R. Hughes (R) - 146

Lawrence M. Boxt (D) - 370

Two three-year terms

Jared Geist (R)

Nicole Talmo (R)

Barbara Correa (D)

Carl J. Manna (D)

Two three-year terms

[?] Joel Brizzi (R) - 306

[?] Michael Homaychak (R) - 291

[?] George W. Cronk (D) - 422

[?] Philip J. Sorbera II (D) - 401

Two three-year terms

Jacqueline Magalhaes (R) - 19

Andrew Poye (R) - 18

Vincent J. Monte (D) - 628

Duane Fischetti (D) - 631

Two three-year terms

[?] Lawrence V. Castiglia (R) - 531

[?] William J. Meneely (R) - 508

[?] Joseph Dombrowski (D) - 880

[?] Daniel Golabek (D) - 883

Two three-year terms

[?] Danielle Dipaola (R) - 414

[?] Kenneth Hoffman (R) - 434

[?] Gerald Falotico (D) - 290

[?] Michael D. Deorio (D) - 283

Two three-year terms

William Woo (R) - 175

Nunzio Consalvo (R) - 167

Ellen Park (D) - 280

Michael I. Kochnover (D) - 268

Ward 2: One three-year term

Michael D. Cohen (D) - 789

Harry J. Reidler (D) - 306

Ward 4: One three-year term

C. Wayne Hamer (D) - 838

Two three-year terms

John Rossi (D) - 556

Russell Martin (D) - 547

Two three-year terms

Elaine Rosenstein (R) - 656

Marc Desind (R) - 628

Ila Kasofsky (D) - 2,438

Peter J. Suh (D) - 2,398

Two three-year terms

Ann Swist (R) - 803

Joseph P. Cadicina (R) - 777

Two three-year terms

Michael R. O'Hagan (R) - 515

Kristen Bond (D) - 933

Two three-year terms

[?] Gregory J. Evanella (R) - 226

[?] Diane G. Walker (R) - 221

Two three-year terms

[?] Josephine M. Ciocia (R) - 725

[?] Ronald F. Kistner (R) - 760

[?] Christopher Hillmann (D) - 543

[?] Ian Godfrey (D) - 523

Two three-year terms

[?] Andrew Rosenberg (R) - 150

[?] Michael Bain (R) - 147

[?] Dina Siciliano (D) - 296

[?] Robin Sodaro (D) - 286

Two three-year terms

Frank A. Pizzella (R) - 576

Steven M. Segalas (R) - 552

Two three-year terms

[?] Philip Rorty (R) - 296

[?] Kevin Crossley (R) - 294

One two-year term

[?] Thomas Fiato (R) - 276

Two three-year terms

Bernadette Flaim (D) - 810

William N. Ziegler (D) - 838

Two three-year terms

[?] Foster Lowe (R) - 161

[?] Bernard Sobolewski (R) - 162

[?] Thomas Sarlo (D) - 437

[?] Stephen Lanum (D) - 413

Two three-year terms

Thomas J. Lindenau (R) - 332

Michael Gervino (R) - 323

Two three-year terms

Jerry Iannone (R)

Nancy C. Peet (R)

John J. Considine (R)

John J. Meeks Jr. (R)

Two three-year terms

Timothy E. Lane (R) - 424

Salvatore J. Talarico (R) - 408

Elizabeth M. Gloeggler (D) - 350

Two three-year terms

[?] Robert J. Bauer, Sr. (D) - 102

[?] Kathleen M. Kinsella (D) - 90

Two three-year terms

Dominic Colucci (R) - 552

Kelly J. Langschultz (R) - 561

Frances Randi Duffie (D) - 850

N. Ari Weisbrot (D) - 773

Two three-year terms

Richard T. Hughes (R) - 481

Marijo L. Karcic Jr. (R) - 469

Mark E. Yampaglia (D) - 778

Jean P. Williams (D) - 755

Two three-year terms

[?] Michael L. Small (D) - 194

[?] Louis J. DeLisio (D) - 201

Two three-year terms

[?] Maria J. Mcdonald (R) - 227

[?] Frank Marino (R) - 241

Allen Rapaport (R) - 115

[?] John J. Rooney (D) - 296

Two three-year terms

Eric P. Kulmala (R) - 689

Robert E. Knapp, Jr. (R) - 723

Brian Reich (D) - 520

Joshua M. Lurie (D) - 529

Two three-year terms

[?] Victor M. Cioce (R) - 321

[?] Matthew M. Nalbandian (R) - 333

One one-year term

[?] Thomas E. Gallagher - 346

Two three-year terms

Stephen G. Carnevale (R) - 453

John Y. Samuel (R) - 418

Robert A. Pizzuto (D) - 457

Richard Kuller (D) - 447

Two three-year terms

Henry Ruh (D) - 445

Christopher Chung (D) - 480

Two three-year terms

Jeanne T. Weber (R) - 927

Jill F. Rosenfeld (R) - 866

Ralph Amato (D) - 1,232

Christopher Clark (D) - 1,174

Two three-year terms

Kelly Epstein (D) - 474

Robert C. Metzdorf (D) - 458

Two three-year terms

Vanessa Jachzel (R)

Harry Weber (R)

Two three-year terms

[?] Angus W. Todd (R) - 267

[?] Warren N. Vincentz (R) - 263

[?] James V. Kontolios (D) - 413

[?] Hugo Jimenez (D) - 449

Two three-year terms

Annmarie T. Rudis (R) - 333

Mary Davis (R) - 356

Ellen M. Busteed (D) - 694

Dario A. Chinigo (D) - 651

Three four-year terms

Ari Ben-Yishay (R) - 521

Paul J. Criscuolo (R) - 521

John P. Donovan (R) - 530

One three-year term

[?] Kenneth J. Kovalcik (R) - 210

Two three-year terms

[?] James G. Pontone (R) - 19

[?] David C. Hansen (R) - 20

Two three-year terms

Mark O'Connor (R) - 596

Michael Duffy (R) - 588

Thomas Mullahey (D) - 1,226

Mark Goldsack (D) - 1,199

Three four-year terms

Felix A. Sergio (R) - 436

Anthony Halko (R) - 468

Andrew M. Cimiluca (R) - 469

Florence Mazzer (D) - 645

Joseph Camilleri (D) - 621

Omar Rodriguez (D) - 618

Two two-year terms

[?] Ronald A. Gray (R) - 449

[?] Michael J. Toomey (R) - 443

Corinne M. Kerner (R) - 434

Ronald V. Yates (R) - 440

One three-year term

[?] Vincent Stefano (R) - 85

[?] Yris Encarnacion (D) - 130

Two three-year terms

Susan Van Poznak (R) - 319

Maxim F. Basch (D) - 1,105

Daniel Park (D) - 1,147

Two three-year terms

[?] Jonathan W. Ditkoff (R) - 525

[?] Thomas H. Hafner (R) - 501

Two three-year terms

[?] Donald Sciolaro (R) - 559

[?] Gregor J. Bjork (R) - 551

Two three-year terms

Melissa Randaisi-Dabal (R) - 204

Bryan Olkowski (R) - 231

Joseph C. Brunacki IV (D) - 405

Mark Lepinski (D) - 412

Helena Plaskon (D) - 85

Two three-year terms

Robert Bicocchi (R) - 554

Beth Anne Dell (R) - 544

Jennifer L. Scardino (D) - 697

Thomas M. Constantine (D) - 670

Two three-year terms

[?] Corrado Belgiovine (R) - 317

[?] Angela Hayes (R) - 313

[?] Josephine Higgins (D) - 463

[?] Robert Rosenblatt (D) - 448

Two three-year terms

[?] David A. Silva (R) - 230

[?] Thomas A. Carney (R) - 232

[?] Catherine Cassidy (D) - 552

[?] Joseph DiMarco (D) - 534

One three-year term

Rudolf E. Boonstra Jr. (R) - 1,136

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

All five people in the car were seriously hurt.

FORT LEE -- A teen without a license was charged Tuesday in a crash that seriously injured five people in the car, the acting county prosecutor said.

The 17-year-old from New York City crashed a 2000 Honda Accord at about 3:31 a.m. at the entrance of a Best Western Hotel on Route 4 west, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said.

The five occupants of the Honda required medical attention, Grewal said. The car took heavy front-end damage.

The prosecutor's office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and Fort Lee Police investigated. They determined the driver lost control and struck an island barrier at the entrance of the hotel, Grewal said.

The driver and four passengers were meeting another group of friends at the hotel. All five people in the car were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.

Two of the passengers were in critical condition Tuesday night, Grewal said.

The driver was charged with three counts of causing serious bodily injury while operating a motor vehicle while unlicensed. More charges may be forthcoming, Grewal said.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Pitcher John O'Reilly permanently injured another student in an October 2014 assault, a lawsuit says

A former student manager for the Rutgers University baseball team has filed suit against a top pitcher on the squad, claiming the player attacked him in a drunken rage in a dormitory hallway, causing permanent injuries to his neck.

The former manager, Albert DeSanto, claims in the lawsuit that John O'Reilly, a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore, first threatened to hit him with a wall shelf, then wrapped his arms around DeSanto's neck from behind and yanked upward, lifting the 5-foot-6 student off the ground.

The early morning encounter -- which took place in October 2014, when O'Reilly was a first-semester freshman -- left DeSanto so severely injured he required surgery to implant a plate and two screws in his spine, DeSanto and his attorney said. The civil lawsuit, seeking compensation and damages, was filed in earler this year in Middlesex County Superior Court.

Rutgers pitcher John O'Reilly, seen here in a game against Iowa, allegedly caused a permanent neck injury to a fellow student in an October 2014 altercation, a lawsuit states. (Associated Press) 

Nearly a year after the incident, in October 2015, O'Reilly pleaded guilty in Piscataway Municipal Court to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace, the lawsuit states. Yet the baseball player received no discipline from the university, either before or after the plea, DeSanto and his lawyer said in interviews.

"I find it shocking and disappointing that someone could do something like this and continue on completely unscathed in a school system in this day and age," said the lawyer, Jeff Fritz. "The school has a code of conduct that clearly would apply here, yet despite Albert's attempts to have the school do something about it, he just got turned away every step of the way."

DeSanto, a Hillsborough resident who was 25 at the time of the incident, questioned whether O'Reilly would have been treated differently were he not a scholarship athlete.

"I've come to the conclusion that the administration acted improperly on this in order to avoid bad publicity and to protect O'Reilly, ultimately at my expense," he said.

A Rutgers spokesman, E.J. Miranda, declined to comment on the claim, citing privacy protections under the Family and Education Right and Privacy Act.

"As a general rule, and respecting student privacy interests and FERPA legal obligations, the university does not comment on matters involving student discipline," Miranda said.

O'Reilly, a resident of Northvale in Bergen County, did not respond to an email sent to his university account. His father, Michael O'Reilly, said in a telephone interview that a simple assault charge against his son was dropped and that John O'Reilly pleaded guilty only to disturbing the peace, a disorderly persons offense.

"Look, it's an 18-year-old kid in his first semester at college. What do I say?" he said. "I don't know why this is news a year and a half later."

The father said he was unaware of the extent of DeSanto's injuries.

The suit does not name Rutgers as a defendant, though Fritz said suing the university remains "under consideration."

O'Reilly, a graduate of Northern Valley Regional High School and a double major in criminal justice and labor studies, is a starter on the university's baseball team and ranks among Rutgers' top pitchers.  

According to the lawsuit, the altercation with DeSanto unfolded around 2 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2014.

DeSanto, a former standout baseball player and academic All-American at Raritan Valley Community College, said he was returning to his room in the south tower of Lynton Towers on the Livingston campus when he saw O'Reilly, beer in hand, open a janitor's closet and pull out a hose.

Clearly intoxicated, O'Reilly began spraying the hallway with water and threatened to turn the hose on DeSanto, who told the ballplayer he didn't want to be sprayed and to put the hose away, the lawsuit states.

DeSanto said O'Reilly backed him into a corner, prompting the smaller man to push O'Reilly away.

Infuriated, the ballplayer told DeSanto, "If you put your hands on me again I'm going to give you the worse (sic) concussion you ever had," according to a report written by an investigator with the Rutgers University Police Department. 

Both the lawsuit and the police report state that O'Reilly then grabbed a wall shelf and repeatedly raised it over his head, as if he was going to strike DeSanto. A witness told police he managed to take the board away from O'Reilly, the report says.

Moments later, as DeSanto was returning to his dorm room, O'Reilly came up behind him, wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him off the ground, the lawsuit states.

The action injured the bones in DeSanto's neck and exacerbated a head injury he had suffered in 2009, while a student at Ramapo College. In that case, DeSanto was duct-taped to a chair and pushed through a hallway of his dormitory in an event known as the Dorm Olympics, according to a published account.

The injury occurred when DeSanto's head smashed into a cinder-block wall. In 2013, he reached a $375,000 settlement from the state.

In the suit against O'Reilly, DeSanto said the attack resulted in new migraines and a feeling of constant pressure behind his eyes.

DeSanto, a senior double majoring in political science and information technology, said he was unable to finish out the semester and missed two more semesters as he underwent surgery and recovered from the injury. He returned to the university this spring.

DeSanto said he still doesn't know why O'Reilly targeted him. The two had known each other for about a month, he said, and did not have any previous conflicts.

"I'm still unsure why," he said. "I was completely sober in my dormitory hallway and returning to my room to go to bed."

Staff writer Keith Sargeant contributed to this report.

Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJMueller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The driver was from Jersey City.

EAST RUTHERFORD -- A Jersey City man died Tuesday night after crashing his motorcycle at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, police said.

Dashawn Hill, 25, crashed a Honda motorcycle at about 8:11 p.m. on Berry's Creek Road, New Jersey State Police Sgt. Jeff Flynn said.

Hill was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:35 p.m., Flynn said. Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

5 teams showed a little something extra in punching tickets to the finals

The man was suicidal, police said.

NEW MILFORD -- Police arrested a New Milford man Monday whose behavior prompted a lockdown of New Milford schools.

Police learned Monday morning that Andrew Pardo, 24, was suicidal and had left a Princeton Street address with a shotgun, New Milford Police Chief Frank Ramaci.

Pardo drove an older model pickup truck with New York license plates, witnesses told police. New Milford private and public schools were locked down though Pardo made no specific threats against anyone else, Ramaci said.

Police tracked Pardo's location using his cell phone, which showed him traveling westbound on I-80 in Morris County. New Jersey State Police stopped Pardo in Roxbury Township.

Pardo was arrested without incident, Ramaci said. Police recovered the shotgun.

He was sent to St. Clare's Hospital in Denville. Charges are pending, Ramaci said.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

See the major highights of Tuesday's action

The auction was scheduled for Wednesday Watch video

FORT LEE -- An auction scheduled Wednesday for a mansion built by mob kingpin Albert Anastasia Jr. won't go forward because someone bought it outright, the auction house said.

"We were contacted by an eager buyer and have decided to move forward on this sale," Guernsey's Auction House said in a statement.

Guernsey's had planned to auction the 1.3-acre property and the Italianate-style mansion built by Anastasia, who had a bloody career as part of the racketeering, strikebreaking, strong-arming gang known as Murder, Inc. Subsequent owners included Del Webb, a former part-owner of the New York Yankees, comedian Buddy Hackett and current owner Arthur Imperatore, founder and president of the NY Waterway ferry service.

Guernsey's did not reveal the buyer's name, but said "this storied home's legacy will live on with its new wonderful owners."

The bidding had previously been delayed from December to allow the auction house to repaint some of the brightly colored walls replace worn carpet.

Allen Rapaport lost the Republican primary for his Norwood council seat.

NORWOOD -- Allen Rapaport received a call Wednesday, the morning after losing the Republican primary election for his council seat in Norwood.

The call was from a friend who was a mayor in the town over. He told Rapaport he should have waited until after the primary to endorse Democrat Josh Gottheimer for Congress.

"I said to him, 'You're making the assumption that I'm politically smart,'" Rapaport said.

Rapaport's decision back in March to back Gottheimer in the race to unseat Republican Scott Garrett in New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District drew the ire of the Bergen County Republican Organization. Chairman Bob Yudin asked Maria J. McDonald to run for Rapaport's seat instead.

The organization also placed Rapaport on what he calls the "no man's land" of the ballot, all the way in column five, line 17. McDonald and Frank Marino won the Republican nominations for Norwood council seats Tuesday night.

"The Republican voters in Norwood spoke and they have chosen Mr. Marino and Mrs. McDonald," Rapaport said. "I sent them a text message and congratulated them on their victory and wished them well in November."

Rapaport intends to focus on the remaining six months of his term. He took issue with accusations that he was responsible for tax increases during his 12 years as a councilman.

He blamed Gov. Chris Christie for failing to support municipalities' efforts to control property taxes. Rapaport, who served as police commissioner, helped reduce salaries for the police department, he said.

While Rapaport concedes that endorsing Gottheimer may not have been the politically smart decision, it was one he believed in. In March, he criticized Garrett for voting against a spending bill that included funding for the Zadroga Act, a fund that provides treatment to first responders sickened or hurt while responding to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I think we owe it to them," Rapaport said Wednesday. "That was from the heart."

Rapaport has not decided whether he will try to run in November as a write-in candidate.

"I have to go with the will of the people," he said. "I've had a good run. I've done a lot of good things for the borough of Norwood."

The man who was taken into custody Tuesday night after hitting two police cars during a motor vehicle pursuit in Jersey City has been identified as a 29-year-old Bergen County resident.

The man who was taken into custody Tuesday night after hitting two police cars during a motor vehicle pursuit in Jersey City has been identified as a 29-year-old Bergen County resident. 

Joel Krecz, of Hackensack, was arrested just before 6 p.m. after he fled police trying to conduct a traffic stop, Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said. He was charged with four counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, eluding, resisting arrest, and weapons offenses connected to the car.  

Morrill said Krecz fled police at a high rate of speed on Duncan Avenue, cutting off other vehicles and driving on the wrong side of the road as he headed for Mallory Avenue. At one point, he nearly struck a police officer and continued to flee despite the lights and sirens police had activated. 

Krecz then continued onto Belmont Avenue from West Side Avenue toward Kennedy Boulevard, continually cutting off traffic until he arrived at Gifford and Bergen avenues where he struck a police car in front him, Morrill said.

He continued to flee and then struck another police vehicle. After resisting police orders to get out of his vehicle -- a sleek BMW 745i -- he was eventually placed into custody and transported to the Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health for injuries he sustained during the accident, Morrill said. 

Police initially said over the radio the car was potentially involved in a robbery, but Morrill could not immediately confirm why police pulled the vehicle over. 

The incident bares similarities to a Monday night police chase in Jersey City involving an 18-year-old Irvington man driving in what police said was a stolen vehicle. The pursuit began in the area of Grant and Bergen avenues just before 9 p.m. and ended in the Hub shopping center parking lot, where Shaffon Wertz, 18, rammed two police cars with the stolen vehicle, Morrill said. 

Wertz was arrested, along with two passengers. 

Visitors from around the country annually enjoy the sights, sounds and rides at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Another summer season brings another year for residents of New Jersey and people from all over the world to make a pilgrimage to Jackson Township and enjoy the sights, sounds and rides at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Warner LeRoy greets the first guests to the amusement park on opening day, July 4, 1974.Courtesy of Six Flags Great Adventure 

In a Times of Trenton article on the park's 40^th anniversary in 2014, Mike Davis noted that "when Great Adventure opened on July 1, 1974, businessman Warner LeRoy -- who later bought and renovated the Tavern on the Green and Russian Tea Room restaurants in New York -- saw it as just one phase of a multi-park resort, something that would rival Walt Disney World."

LeRoy's vision never quite panned out, but Great Adventure gradually turned into the park that employed more than 4,000 people each summer and drew 2.8 million visitors in 2013.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

"The park has changed a great deal over the past 40 years, but one thing has remained the same," Six Flags spokeswoman Kristin Siebeneicher said at the time of the 40^th anniversary. "Six Flags Great Adventure is a place to create happy, lasting memories."

The park is well known for introducing rides that become must-do's among amusement park aficionados. Over the years, these have included The Great American Scream Machine (1996), Hurricane Harbor (2000), Nitro (2001), Kingda Ka (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom (2014).

Here's a look back at Six Flags Great Adventure in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.

A minivan pursued by police was involved in the fatal collision Tuesday night.

UPDATE: N.Y. man charged in crash

NEW YORK -- A 54-year-old woman died Tuesday night after a minivan crashed head-on into the car she was traveling in, The Daily News reported Wednesday.

Olga Ilina of Fair Lawn was in the passenger seat of a Subaru traveling south on the Henry Hudson Parkway around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when it collided with a Dodge Caravan that had swerved into the southbound lane.

Police had pursued the Caravan for several blocks after the driver made an illegal u-turn at W. 17th Street and Eighth Avenue and failed to pull over, police said.  The Caravan was stolen, CBS 2 New York reported.

The 53-year-old driver of the car was hospitalized in stable condition. The 23-year-old driver and his 34-year-old passenger were also injured. Charges against the two, whose names were not immediately released, were still pending Wednesday.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Service is suspended in the area

RAMSEY -- A person died Thursday after being struck by a train in Ramsey, an official said.

An NJ Transit train heading from Hoboken to Suffern on the Main Line struck the person at about 6:48 a.m. near a rail crossing over Main Street, not far from the Ramsey station, Jim Smith, a spokesman for NJ Transit, said.

None of the crew or the approximately 60 passengers on board were hurt, Smith said. NJ Transit suspended rail service between Suffern and Allendale.

Cross-honoring is in effect for NJ Transit buses and private carriers. It's not clear when service is expected to resume.

NJ Transit did not immediately have information on the person who died.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Police released surveillance images of the robbery.

ENGLEWOOD -- Two men--including one wearing a "New Jersey Born & Raised" T-shirt--stole three $25,000 watches Monday from a store in Englewood, police said.

The men did not display weapons, Englewood Detective Capt. Timothy Torell said.

The employees of Timepiece Collection on East Palisades Avenue were not hurt, but were shaken up, Torell said. Video footage shows one of the men distracted two employees while the other reached behind an unlocked case, grabbed the Audemars Piguet watches and stuffed them into a bag.

The two fled south on Grand Avenue, Torell said.

Englewood Police released images from the video footage Wednesday. Police are also working to get images from other stores in the area.

Because one of the men made no effort to hide his face, police believe he is from out of the area, Torell said.

"It is common, with similar type thieves, for these teams to be highly mobile throughout a particular area of the country," Torell said.

Detectives have "significant leads," Torell said. The Bergen County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit collected evidence from the scene.

If anyone recognizes the men, they should call Englewood detectives at (201) 568-4875 or the local Crimestoppers line at (844) 466-6789. Tips may be eligible for cash rewards.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Complete coverage, plus tons of photos and videos, from the NJSIAA Track and Field Meet of Champions at Central Regional HS in Bayville

Complete coverage, plus tons of photos and videos, from the NJSIAA Track and Field Meet of Champions at Central Regional HS in Bayville

Jean Herrera allegedly crashed a stolen minivan.

NEW YORK -- Police charged a Manhattan man in the death of a Fair Lawn woman Tuesday night on the Henry Hudson Parkway.

Jean Herrera allegedly drove a stolen minivan head-on into a car occupied by Olga Illina, 54, a spokesman for the New York City Police Department said.

Illina was in the passenger seat of a Subaru traveling southbound on the Henry Hudson Parkway. The Dodge Caravan Herrera was driving swerved into the southbound lane, crashing into the Subaru, police said.

Police chased the Caravan for several blocks before arresting Herrera. He was charged with manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, license plate violations and leaving the scene of an accident.

The 53-year-old driver of the Subaru was injured in the crash and hospitalized in stable condition.

Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.