Church Van Crashes Into Bus During Maplewood-To-Newark Cop Chase

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A pair of men allegedly used three different vehicles to rob three victims in Newark during the overnight hours on Thursday. The alleged robbers were apprehended after a police car chase in Maplewood that ended with a crash into a NJ Transit bus, authorities said.

In total, almost a dozen people suffered minor injuries during the encounter, according to the Newark Department of Public Safety.

Newark police said that three separate robberies took place:

• “At 11:35 p.m., a victim was robbed at gunpoint on the 200-block of Eastern Parkway by two masked suspects who were driving a white Ford van with Massachusetts plates.”
• “At 11:40 p.m., a victim was robbed at gunpoint by two masked suspects driving a white U-Haul van at Poe Avenue near South Orange Ave.”
• “At 1:16 a.m., police responded to a report of a robbery on the 200-block of Park Avenue. Two suspects fitting the same description as in previous robberies, in a white church van, approached a man and demanded his cash.”

It was the final vehicle – the white van – that led police to the alleged robbers, authorities said.

Around 2:04 a.m., police officers in Maplewood saw the van in their town and began a chase, pursuing the vehicle into Newark. During the car chase, a Maplewood police car crashed into a civilian vehicle near the intersection of Colgate and Broom. Nobody suffered “serious” injuries; the civilian driver refused medical treatment at the scene, authorities said.

Meanwhile, the white van continued to elude police. Officers with the Essex County Sheriff’s Department picked up the chase, pursuing the van until it crashed into a NJ Transit bus near the intersection of Springfield Avenue and S. 17th Street, police said.

In total, nine passengers and the bus driver were transported to an area hospital. No serious injuries were reported, police stated.

On Friday morning, the Newark Department of Public Safety reported that two suspects have been apprehended and a weapon has been recovered. No additional information about the suspects’ identities or charges was immediately available.

This is a developing story. Patch will update this article if more information becomes available.

Pix 11 News posted the below video taken at the scene of the crash.

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Photo: YouTube / PIX11 News