Video captures wild, high-speed chase before wrong-way driver crashed killing 2
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North Bergen, NJ - Investigators released recordings of a fatal high-speed September chase with police in North Bergen that shows cops and the car eluding them racing through traffic on Tonnelle Avenue.
Joseph Aziz, 20, of Jersey City, and Bryan Rivera, 24, of North Bergen, were killed on Sept. 28 after the car Aziz was driving struck Rivera’s car on Tonnelle Avenue between 50th and 51st streets, according to a statement from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
North Bergen police Lt. Jason Appello was driving a marked police car and following Aziz after he allegedly committed a traffic violation at the intersection of 69th Street and Tonnelle Avenue, the office said.
Approximately one minute later, at 11:18 p.m., Aziz’s car struck Rivera’s car, in a head-on collision, according to authorities.
A series of surveillance videos released Tuesday by the office shows Aziz passing Appello on Tonnelle Avenue in the opposite direction and slamming on the brakes.
Aziz speeds away when Appello turns around with his emergency lights on, according to the video.
Aziz is seen speeding down Tonnelle Avenue into oncoming traffic as Appello and another police car follow him.
In the area of 51st Street, Aziz narrowly avoids a collision with another car making a left turn-off of Tonnelle Avenue and swerves into the far left lane before slamming into Rivera’s car in a head-on collision, video shows.
A dashcam recording from a driver traveling next to Rivera shows Aziz’s headlights flash ahead of Rivera just before the collision, with no time to react.
A surveillance recording that caught the impact shows Rivera’s car getting thrown backwards.
Appello and another officer arrive at the crash scene about 10 seconds after the collision, according to the video.
Rivera and Aziz sustained serious injuries and were later pronounced dead, the office said.
Three passengers in Rivera’s car were taken to an area hospital for treatment, authorities said. One passenger in Aziz’s car was treated at an area hospital and released.
Investigators later determined that the car Aziz was driving was stolen, officials said.