Driver of Stolen Auto Caught After Crash, Foot Chase

A Trenton man was arrested late this morning (Wednesday, Jan. 4) as he was allegedly in the process of stealing a state fire marshal’s vehicle just moments after he broke away from the Lawrence Township police officer who was trying to arrest him.

Minutes earlier, police allege, the man crashed the stolen minivan he was driving while trying to elude the same officer.

The female fire marshal had stopped her vehicle to assist the police officer.

The suspect, William M. Alvino, 55, of the 700 block of Brunswick Avenue in Trenton, was being charged this afternoon by Lawrence Township police with receiving stolen property, eluding, resisting arrest, hindering apprehension, attempted auto theft and a “host” of traffic violations, according to Lt. Charles Edgar, Lawrence Township police spokesman.

Edgar said the drama began about 11:10 a.m. today when Officer Steve Simon, on routine patrol, spotted a suspicious vehicle parked outside in the 1600 block of Princeton Avenue.

“Officer Simon observed a green minivan parked outside the Five Points Check Cashing business. He thought it was suspicious – the way it was parked and some other things I won’t get into,” Edgar said. “So he drove around the building and ran [a computer check on] the license plate. The plate number came back as a stolen vehicle. Mr. Alvino came out of the business, got into the vehicle and drove down Vermont Street.”

Simon initiated a traffic stop on Vermont Street. Alvino initially stopped the green Plymouth Voyager – which had been reported stolen out of Trenton - but Alvino then allegedly gunned the accelerator and sped away just as Simon was getting out of his police car, according to Edgar.  

Simon got back into his police car to give chase but he quickly discovered that Alvino had crashed the stolen minivan into a parked vehicle about a block away at Brunswick Avenue and Pine Street, on the Trenton side of Brunswick Avenue.

Following the crash, Alvino allegedly jumped out of the minivan and ran. Simon ran after him and pursued Alvino along several alleyways and through backyards in the neighborhood, Edgar said.

He said Simon caught up with Alvino but Alvino “broke loose from Officer Simon’s hold.”

A female state fire marshal – whose name Edgar did not release – observed the officer trying to apprehend Alvino. After Alvino broke free, she stopped her marked fire vehicle to go to Simon’s assistance, Edgar said.

He said Alvino made one final attempt to escape by going for the fire marshal’s vehicle but was subdued there on Ohio Avenue in Trenton. “Mr. Alvino was trying to get into the fire marshal’s car and take it when he was apprehended,” he said.

Alvino, who complained of difficulty breathing following his arrest, was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton to receive medical treatment, Edgar said.