Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose, III have announced that authorities are investigating a fatal motor vehicle crash earlier Friday.
Police say at approximately 5:20 am, Newark police officers were dispatched to the intersection of Bergen Street and Madison Avenue on reports of a motor vehicle crash.
Arriving units observed that a 2011 Acura MDX had crashed into the side of a residence in the 600 block of Bergen Street with two unresponsive males within the vehicle police said.
According to Newark Police Director Anthony Ambrose, the driver of the stolen car sped away from police shortly before the crash.
The males were subsequently pronounced dead at the scene at 5:50 am, according to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas S. Fennelly, of the Prosecutor’s Homicide Unit.
The residence on Bergen Street suffered structural damage as a result of the crash and the occupants were evacuated by authorities.
The Acura was reported stolen in Elizabeth, NJ.
The occupants of the vehicle have been identified as Quadre Robinson, 17 and Quayim Battle, 19.
The cause of death for both males will be determined by autopsies by the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s office in Newark.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, according to Fennelly.
The investigation is being conducted by the Prosecutor’s Crime Scene Investigations Bureau and the Newark Police Department.
The Newark Fire Department and University Hospital’s Emergency Services Division also responded to and assisted at the scene.
Authorities did not confirm if the pair were engaged in several armed robberies around the region prior to the fatal crash. A weapon was reportedly found in slide the car.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Prosecutor's Tips Line at (877) 847-7432.