Wild police chase ends in crash, one arrest
TRENTON » A man who fled a shooting scene in the capital city and later dumped heroin out of his car during a police chase nearly killed a group of construction workers in Pennsylvania before almost killing himself by crashing into a tractor-trailer.
“He was very lucky,” Morrisville Police Chief George McClay said in a phone conversation. “He went sideways into the tractor-trailer and ended up underneath it. He had a tremendous impact.”
The wild caper started around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday when a 35-year-old city male was shot in the butt while in the 200 block of North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton. Police say the man suffered a through-and-through gunshot wound and refused medical attention on scene.
During the shooting investigation, witnesses told cops several cars fled the area and TPD Detective Jason Astbury then saw a silver Audi station wagon speeding in the area of Calhoun and Spring streets.
The driver of that vehicle, identified as Darshitkumar Patel, 40, then led police on a chase that extended into Pennsylvania and returned to the capital city before again crossing the bridge and crashing.
At one point during the 17-minute chase, officials say, Patel nearly killed a group of construction workers.
“He drove through the construction zone on Route 1 and Route 13 doing a million miles an hour and everyone had to dive out of the way to escape being hit,” McClay said. “There were 16 people working, so he was charged with 16 counts of recklessly endangering other people.”
Patel also turned his headlights off at various points during the chase to avoid apprehension and dumped 140 decks of heroin out of the car window while speeding through the capital city the second time before heading back into Morrisville, Pa., and hitting a cop car on the Calhoun Street Bridge.
Officials say a Morrisville cop was standing behind his car with the door open when Patel crashed into it.
“He didn’t cause a lot of damage to the car, but the door hit my officer and he ended up having an injured shoulder,” McClay said.
But the caper didn’t end there. Police say Patel kept driving, even fleeing into Falls Township, Pa., where he crashed into the tractortrailer. Patel then resisted arrest to the point where a TPD K-9 had to assist, causing minor injuries in addition to a facial fracture he suffered during the final crash.
“His car was totaled,” the chief said. “We haven’t searched it yet but we’re going to do that tomorrow. Maybe there will be something more in there.”
In addition to the reckless endangerment charges in Pennsylvania, Patel is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, eluding police and other motor vehicle offenses.
In New Jersey, Patel is charged with several drug offenses, eluding and related motor vehicle offenses.
Trenton police say the investigation hasn’t revealed a connection between Patel and the shooting that happened prior to the chase.
Patel was hospitalized following apprehension to treat non-life-threatening injuries.