NJ Teen Takes Cops On Three County Chase In Stolen Car

NORTH JERSEY, NJ - A 19-year-old Bayonne man took authorities on a chase through three counties Monday morning before being arrested at gunpoint, according to the Mt. Olive Police Department.

Shortly after midnight on Feb. 24 Officer Matthew Koppinger saw a 2011 Volkswagen exit the Shell Gas station and travel erratically across Route 46 West. A check of the registration revealed the car was stolen, so Koppinger attempted to initiate a motor vehicle stop.

The car did not stop, but increased speed forcing Koppinger to pursue the vehicle along Route 46 west through Hackettstown and onto Route 517, police said. The car continued onto Mountainview Drive in Green Township where it stopped in the driveway of a home, police said. The driver, Austin Pember, was taken from the vehicle at gunpoint, and was placed under arrest without incident, police said.

Pember was transported to police headquarters where he was charged with Resisting Arrest, Obstruction, Receiving/Possession of Stolen Property, Reckless Driving, Careless Driving, Speeding, Failure to Maintain Lane, Failure to Signal, Improper U-Turn, Failure to Keep Right, Failure to Yield to Emergency Vehicle, Head Lamps Required, Unlicensed Driver, Failure to Exhibit Documents, and Maintenance of Lamps, police said.

Pember was lodged in the Morris County Correctional Facility pending a court hearing.

In November of 2018 Pember was arrested in connection with a robbery of a woman while getting her mail on Irving Place in Basking Ridge. He was arrested in Jersey City while driving a vehicle that was stolen, police said. At the time Pember was under the residential care of Bonnie Brae School, which is near to where the crimes were committed. The private school in Basking Ridge serves as a safe place for boys and young men in crisis, ages 8 to 21.

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