NJ Attorney General investigating fatal crash after Totowa police chase

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is investigating the death of a motorized scooter driver who crashed while being chased by the Totowa police.

At around 7 p.m. Wednesday, Totowa police officers in marked patrol cars followed a driver of the scooter and his passenger into Paterson, according to state Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office. The scooter crashed into another vehicle around McBride and Murray Avenues, and both men were ejected, officials said.

The driver was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson early Thursday morning, while the passenger had non-life threatening injuries.

It is not immediately clear what prompted the Totowa police to pursue the scooter. Totowa police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is required to conduct an investigation of deaths that occur during an encounter with a law enforcement officer. The findings must also be presented to a grand jury.

According to New Jersey’s pursuit policy, an officer can only pursue a suspect when the person’s vehicle is an imminent threat to the safety of the public or other police officers and “the threat is based on the violator’s action or operation of the vehicle prior to the initiation of the attempted motor vehicle stop.”

The Paterson mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.