100-Mile Chase In U-Haul Starts As Man Flees Howell Restaurant: Police

HOWELL, NJ — A man described as acting "erratically" at a Longhorn Steakhouse on Route 9 Saturday night led Howell police on a two-hour, 100-mile chase, damaging three police cruisers in the incident, police said.

Zachariah Hartman, 38, of Toms River, is now in custody, lodged at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold, police said. He was finally stopped and arrested in Jackson without incident.

He is charged with two counts of eluding, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of obstruction, police said.

No injuries were reported in the incident that included a pursuit through several towns in western Monmouth County and northern Ocean County, police said.

According to a police report, on Saturday night, Nov. 11, Howell Township police were called to Longhorn Steakhouse on Route 9 for a call about a disorderly person inside the establishment. Restaurant staff described the male as "erratic and confrontational," police said.

When patrol units arrived, the man, Zachariah Hartman, fled the scene, striking a police cruiser with what was reported by The Lakewood Scoop as his rented U-Haul truck. Hartman then eluded police through the township, striking two other Howell police cruisers and disabling one, police said.

Hartman continued to flee in his vehicle, with police following through several municipalities, including Lakewood, Jackson, Freehold Township, Freehold Borough, Millstone, Plumsted and Colts Neck, police said.

In total, the "pursuit lasted over two hours and ranged approximately 100 miles," police said.

Hartman was eventually stopped in Jackson without incident, police said. No injuries resulted from the pursuit, police said.