Police Manhunt Nets Men Who Allegedly Fled Crash

Three men who allegedly fled the scene of a traffic collision on Route 1 in Lawrence Township Thursday evening (June 14) were arrested following a two-hour manhunt that involved several township police officers and a tracking dog from the New Jersey State Police.

Township police early Friday morning said they were still working to determine exactly why the men ran off into the woods adjacent to the Joe’s Crab Shack restaurant after the minivan in which they were traveling slammed into the rear of a sport utility vehicle along the southbound side of Route 1 (Brunswick Pike) just north of the Interstate 95/295 interchange.

“We’re still trying to piece everything together,” Sgt. Brian Caloiaro said, noting that police anticipated filing both criminal charges and motor vehicle summonses against the men at the conclusion of the investigation.

The three suspects have tentatively been identified as New York residents, two of whom are 28 years old, with the other being 19 years old, Caloiaro said.

It was 6:10 p.m. when police were notified of the collision. Preliminary information gathered indicates that the three men, traveling in a Dodge minivan, crashed into the rear of a BMW being driven by a 40-year-old Lawrence Township woman, Caloiaro said. Following that collision, he said, the three men allegedly jumped out of the minivan and ran into the woods.

He said the minivan is a rental from New York. He said police were still gathering information about the vehicle.

As soon as they arrived on the scene, township police officers began searching for the three men.

The BMW’s driver, meanwhile, was transported by a township ambulance crew to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries she suffered in the collision.

By 6:30 p.m., two of the suspects had been located by police and taken into custody in the vicinity of the ramp leading onto Interstate 95 South from Route 1.

The third suspect, however, remained at large. Because the township police’s own canine officer is out of town on vacation, a request was made for a tracking dog from the state police to assist with the manhunt.

While the search was underway, some vehicles that traveled through the area were briefly stopped by police and checked.

The third suspect, having apparently made his way along the , was located shortly after 8 p.m. along Meadow Road, a gravel road that leads from Princeton Pike to the township’s historic . A paved path connects the Brearley House with the D&R Canal.

The suspect was taken into custody and handcuffed. An ambulance crew was summoned for the man, who suffered some kind of shoulder injury while he was running through the woods, Caloiaro said. He said the suspect was transported to a local hospital for additional treatment.

Caloiaro said police planned to obtain a search warrant from a judge in order to conduct a thorough search of the minivan.

 Additional information about this incident will be posted as it is released by the police.