Authorities to investigate after fleeing car theft suspect injured during police pursuit.
NEWARK -- City police arrested two juvenile male suspects early Friday morning following a police pursuit that left one injured, authorities said.
An investigation of the pursuit by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Professional Standards Bureau is ongoing, said department spokeswoman Katherine Carter. State law requires that any police pursuit resulting in an injury must be investigated the local prosecutor's office.
The exact circumstances of the incident, including where and when it began, were not immediately made clear. But the pursuit ended at approximately 4 a.m. when, while attempting to flee from police, the suspects crashed an allegedly stolen car near the intersection of South Orange Avenue and 8th Street, Carter said.
Both suspects--whose names have not been disclosed due to their juvenile status--were arrested and charged with receiving stolen property and resisting arrest, Carter said.
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/09/3-year-old_struck_killed_during_newark_police_chas.html
Following the crash, one of the suspects was taken to the hospital with serious injuries to his arm, Carter said.
No other information is available at this time, Carter said.
Officials with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office earlier this year initiated investigations into three previous pursuits by Newark police.
In September, a 22-year-old Newark man allegedly struck and killed a 3-year-old child while attempting to flee from police custody.
On Aug. 27, a 79-year-old woman walking her dog was seriously injured when a car being pursued by Newark police hit her. And on Sept. 1, a teenage carjacking suspect was struck and killed by one of the police cars in the midst of a pursuit.
Statistics obtained by NJ Advance Media indicate that pursuits involving Newark Police Department officers have dropped sharply since 2013.
The figures also indicate a recent county-wide decrease in the total number of suspect pursuits that have resulted in serious injury or death.
Investigations by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office of police-involved pursuits are based on guidelines set by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office that address how and under what circumstances police pursuits are conducted.
The department conducted 31 such investigations in 2013, according to the figures. In 2014, the total dropped to 21. None of the crashes investigated involved a fatality, authorities said.
Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.