Berkeley Heights Police Arrest Man After High Speed Car Chase And Dog Search: Police

A car chase and dog search in the Watchung Reservation ended with the man was taken into custody in Bedminster.

Berkeley Heights police officers arrested a local man after a car chase and search effort using police dogs, according to a police blotter.

Christopher Parker, 35, from Hillside, was caught sleeping behind the wheel of his still-running Mercedes by Patrolman Owen Rosenthal, the blotter said. After Officer Rosenthal woke Parker up, Parker fled from the scene as that police called “a high rate of speed.”

Officer Rosenthal followed Parker into the Watchung Reservation, but had to stop the chase because of Parker’s “aggressive driving.”

Not long after, a Union County Sheriff’s K-9 unit found the Mercedes unoccupied in Mountainside. The K-9 unit, Mountainside, and Scotch Plains Police all searched for parker, but were unable to find him at that time, police reported.

Bedminster Police later detained Parker as part of a separate matter within Bedminster. He was transferred to Berkeley Heights Police Department, and was charged with Eluding in the second degree and Obstruction in the fourth degree.

Parker posted bail, and has a mandatory court appearance in Union County Superior Court.

Image: Union County Sheriff's Office K-9 Search & Rescue Unit (website)