06/12/15 Newark, NJ – Shooting Call At Corrections Patrol Car – Man Jumps In Newark Police Marked Pick Up With Barricades Trailer – Chase – Suspect Jumps Out Of Moving Truck

June 12, 2015

blog.nj.com

A 22-year-old Newark man was arrested early Thursday morning after leading police on a chase through the city in a stolen police vehicle.

Rodney Griffin has been charged with eluding, theft and resisting arrest, said Newark Police Department spokesman Sergeant Ronald Glover. Griffin was also issued several traffic summonses, he added.

The chase began at approximately 3:40 a.m., when officers arrived at the scene of a reported shooting incident near Broad and Market Street in downtown Newark, officials said.

Investigators said officers from the Department of Corrections were traveling toward the intersection when their vehicle sustained window damage from possible gunfire.

While the police officers assisted in the search for shell casings and other ballistic evidence at the scene, Griffin jumped into the still-running marked police truck and drove off with a trailer filled with police barricades in tow, officials said.

Griffin, who officials said ignored all commands to stop and disregarded traffic signals, drove toward University Hospital with police units in pursuit. He was eventually apprehended after jumping from the still-moving police truck near the hospital parking lot and attempting to flee on foot, authorities said.

Neither Griffin or any of the officers involved in the chase sustained injuries, Glover said. None of the police vehicles involved in the chase were damaged in the pursuit, he added.

Following the pursuit, investigators determined that the Department of Corrections vehicle damaged prior to the chase was struck by an unknown object, not gunfire, authorities said.

The incident is being reviewed to ensure that it is not repeated, Glover said.