Officials at N.J. State PBA has confirmed that one of their corrections police officers was killed in a deadly police pursuit that struck the vehicle that the officer was occupying Saturday morning in Newark.
This is a statement from the PBA:
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Officer Omar Martin from Northern State Prison. He was killed early this morning by a driver of a stolen vehicle involved in an active police chase. He was taken to soon and our blue family is devastated”
According to preliminary reports, police in Hillside were in a high-speed pursuit of a vehicle where the driver ignored demands by officers to pull over.
The chase left Hillside and entered Newark city limits with the driver of the car barreling down Newark's South Ward Street and Hillside Police officers in close proximity.
According to police, the crash came to a crashing halt with the suspect's vehicle slammed into a car near the intersection of Bragaw Avenue and Aldine Street just before 2:45 a.m.
Police say the suspect bailed from the car but was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit.
AG UPDATE: The Attorney General’s Shooting Response Task Force is conducting an investigation of a fatal motor vehicle crash that occurred early this morning in Newark when police pursued a vehicle that subsequently crashed into the car driven by the victim, fatally injuring him.
According to the preliminary investigation, an officer of the Hillside Police Department was in pursuit of a Nissan Altima occupied by three men.
The fatal crash occurred at approximately 2:37 a.m. at Bragaw Avenue and Aldine Street in Newark when the fleeing car struck the Ford Mustang the victim was driving broadside, pushing it into a utility pole. The victim, who was trapped in his car, was pronounced dead at the scene.
There were no other occupants in his car. Two of the men from the other car were taken to University Hospital in Newark with injuries that are not life threatening. The third was taken to the Hillside Police Department.
The identities of the decedent and the three men in the other car are not being released. The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
This investigation is being conducted pursuant to a law enacted in January 2019, Senate Bill 1036, which requires that the Attorney General’s Office conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.