N.J. Man Runs Over Cop With His Own Cruiser: Police

NUTLEY, NJ — A Nutley man accused of terrorizing his family members, trying to carjack a local motorist and his eight-year-old son, stealing a police officer’s vehicle and running over him trying to make his getaway has pleaded not guilty to several related charges, reports say.

According to police, the series of violent incidents began around 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 26 when Edgar Ordonez, 22, allegedly flew into a rage at his mother’s Cathedral Avenue home, breaking windows, walls and doors and then pushing his mother off a seven-foot-high retaining wall. Police said that Ordonez is also accused of hitting his 10-year-old brother with the butt end of a machete during the incident.

Nutley police said that Ordonez then allegedly attempted to carjack a moving Jaguar luxury car with a local motorist and his eight-year-old son inside.

According to authorities, Nutley officers arrived on the scene and began to search the area. At that time, Ordonez allegedly punched one of the officers in the head and jumped into one of the police cruisers, running over the officer and dragging him 20 to 30 feet in his escape attempt.

The officer sustained multiple injuries in the process and was transported to a local hospital, but luckily, none of the injuries proved to be life-threatening, Nutley Detective Anthony Montanari said.

After stealing the police car, Ordonez crashed just a few blocks away near the Route 3 overpass in Clifton. He put up an additional struggle – injuring two of the officers - before police were able to place him under arrest, authorities said.

Emergency responders restrained Ordonez and transported him to an area hospital for evaluation, authorities said. Police later charged Ordonez with a series of criminal offenses and transported him to the Passaic County Jail where he was held on $50,000 bail.

During a court appearance on Monday, Ordonez entered not guilty pleas for two counts of carjacking, plus multiple counts of aggravated assault, assault on a police officer, theft, assault by auto, weapons possession and resisting arrest.