Man Dies In Car Crash Following Police Chase On Routes 17 And 4: Prosecutor

A Bergen County man died after a police cruiser in Hackensack struck his vehicle Thursday afternoon, authorities said. The cruiser was responding to a call about a motorcyclist who eluded police in Paramus earlier, said Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.

At about 2 p.m., a Paramus police officer attempted to stop a motorcyclist, Salvatore Deangelis, 31, on Route 17 for a traffic violation, authorities said.

Deangelis was “zigzagging between lanes” on Route 17, said Paramus police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg. He sped up and went faster when police tried to stop him.

Deangelis made a U-turn, passed another patrol car on Route 17, went into the Garden State Plaza parking lot, and went onto Route 4 East, Ehrenberg said.

The officer lost contact with the motorcycle on Route 4 and broke off the pursuit, Grewal said.

Deangelis was involved in a crash at Spring Valley Avenue and Coles Street in Maywood, Grewal said. He was charged with eluding; other charges are pending while the investigation continues.

While on the way to the accident, a Hackensack police car collided with a vehicle at Summit and Ross avenues in Hackensack, the prosecutor said.

The other driver involved in the crash, a 67-year-old man from Hackensack, died in the crash, Grewal said.

The prosecutor’s office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit is investigating the incident.

Deangelis was taken Hackensack University Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, Ehrenberg said. He was being held on $50,000 bail at the hospital.