NEWARK
- The Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team is conducting an investigation into the
circumstances surrounding a shooting incident
involving New Jersey State Police detectives
that occurred on I-280 West near Exit 15B
in Newark about 8 a.m. today.
According
to the preliminary investigation, detectives
from the New Jersey State Police Garden State
Parkway Troop E Criminal Investigation Office
were investigating recent car thefts and car
break-ins at service areas on the Garden State
Parkway. Detective Sgt. Salvatore Ingui, Detective
Harold Ramirez and Detective Joel Trella were
tracking a Jeep Cherokee Sport that had been
reported stolen. They followed it as it entered
I-280 West at Interchange 15W from the New
Jersey Turnpike. The detectives, who were
driving three unmarked State Police vehicles,
were able to get into position to stop the
vehicle about one mile west of the Interchange
near Exit 15B on I-280 about 8 a.m. The motor
vehicle stop was initiated, but the suspect
attempted to escape by ramming the Jeep Cherokee
Sport into several vehicles, including two
of the undercover State Police vehicles and
one civilian vehicle. Detective Ramirez then
fired a single round at the suspect, striking
him in the shoulder.
The
suspect, identified as Juan Colon, 52, of
North 6th Street, Newark, was arrested at
the scene and taken to UMDNJ - University
Hospital, where he was treated and later released
to police custody. Criminal charges will be
filed against him later today. The detectives
were also taken to the hospital and were later
released
The
incident remains under investigation by the
Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team. Under an Attorney General Directive,
the Shooting Response Team, made up of deputy
attorneys general, detectives of the Division
of Criminal Justice and detectives of the
State Police Major Crime Unit, are dispatched
to the scene to handle investigations of such
incidents.
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