Essex County Cops Arrest Reputed Gang Member After Crash At School Site

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ -- Essex County police arrested a reputed Bloods gang member from East Orange on Saturday after a high-speed police car chase ended with a crash into the Donald M. Payne School construction site, authorities say.

According to the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, officers performing uniformed quality of life operations on Saturday evening observed a double-parked 2017 Kia Optima occupied by four males near the intersection of Sussex Avenue and Steuben Street in Newark.

As officers ran a license plate check on the Kia, the driver, later identified as Jordy Delouis, 18, of East Orange, ended a conversation with a male passerby with a “recognizable Bloods handshake” and pulled away from the scene, police stated.

The officers followed the Kia, discovering that the car was reported stolen out of Newark on Friday, authorities said.

When officers turned on their car’s lights and siren and tried to pull the Kia over, Delouis hit the gas and sped away, police said.

The chase ended when the Kia crashed into an Audi sedan that had stopped for a red light at the intersection of West Market and Humboldt streets, careening into a chain link fence at the Donald M. Payne School construction site, police said.

• See related article: New Vocational Tech School Breaks Ground In Newark; Essex County's Donald Payne Honored

After the crash, the four occupants of the car bailed out and fled on foot, police said.

Authorities said that three of the suspects escaped and are still at large. However, police caught up to Delouis, who was seen limping from the scene. When officers asked Delouis if he had been injured in the crash, he allegedly told them that he was "shot in the leg two weeks ago."

Officers secured Delouis and checked on the Audi driver’s condition; he was uninjured and declined medical attention.

Police found two loaded handguns inside the Kia, as well as a Cobra FS380 and a Kel-Tec P11.

Authorities charged Delouis with two counts of the unlawful possession of a weapon and one count each of the possession of a defaced weapon, receiving stolen property and eluding police. He was also issued motor vehicle summonses for double parking, being an unlicensed driver, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Delouis was lodged at the Essex County jail where he awaits a bail hearing on the above charges, police said.

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