HANOVER TOWNSHIP — Hanover Township Police were alerted of a speeding car travelling west on Route 10 from East Hanover, on Sunday, July 14, shortly before midnight. Sergeants Gundersdorf and Vitanza immediately located the vehicle as was entering onto Route 287 North.
After checking the registration, the officers learned the vehicle was stolen from Somers, New York. The vehicle continued to flee at a high rate of speed while Sgt. Gundersdorf and Sgt. Vitanza continued to pursue.
The suspect vehicle entered Route 80 East and the pursuit continued onto Route 46 in Wayne. The suspects rammed a North Caldwell Police vehicle in Little Falls and the vehicle finally struck a curb disabling the stolen car near the Willowbrook Mall.
Some of the suspects fled on foot; however, after a brief foot chase all seven suspects were apprehended. The suspects were all juveniles between the ages of 13 and 17 and were from the New Haven, Connecticut area. All the juveniles were initially charged with eluding, receiving stolen property, possession of under 50 grams of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
There are numerous motor vehicle charges pending from each of the jurisdictions they traveled through, including aggravated assault charges for striking a police vehicle in Little Falls.
Sergeants Vitanza and Gundersdorf, along with Detectives Seely and Littman, were able to link these suspects to 17 car burglaries that occurred in Hanover Township prior to the pursuit.
Further investigation revealed that these suspects were possibly responsible for at least two motor vehicle burglaries in Florham Park, 15 in Livingston, as well as, numerous others in Somers and Kent, New York.
All the suspects were lodged in the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center pending their court appearance and the filing of the additional charges.
