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.