Man steals car, carjacks police cruiser during chase

Kong jumped into her vehicle as soon as the woman got out.

As the son got out, Kong sped off and the frantic mom called 911, Cioffi said.

Police say a northern New Jersey man was arrested after refusing to dismantle a large fireworks display he planned to set off at his home.

Cops spotted Kong and chased him through several towns.

Police eventually caught up with Kong but he rammed the patrol auto as officers tried to stop him. “They were trying to restrain a subject that was obviously mentally unstable, but they didn’t’ want to hurt him”, Cioffi said. “He was fighting back”.

Elba Rodrigez saw the incident as it began to unfold right in front of her house in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. When she got out of her auto, the man ran to the driver’s seat, he said.

Scene 5: “My concern was that this maniac was going to come barreling into Leonia and strike and kill a pedestrian”, says that town’s chief, Tom Rowe, who sends Officer Erik Goodell and several other cops to join the chase and cut Kong off before he decides to double back east.

The suspect crashed the cruiser near a Dodge dealership in Paramus and was captured after a brief foot chase, police said. Seven patrol cars from various police departments were damaged during the pursuit. The suspect was finally arrested in Paramus after crashing the stolen police vehicle on Route 4, CBS2’s Matt Kozar reported.

The two injured officers were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.

WCBS The 22-year-old has been charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, carjacking and numerous other charges. The woman whose Mercedes was stolen also went to the hospital. “I don’t know what his motive was, why he did this”, said Chief Michael Cioffi, of the Englewood Cliffs Police Department.

State police say a bus fire snarled traffic and forced troopers to close a portion of the New Jersey Turnpike.