A 42-year-old Washington Township man was arrested and charged with Eluding following a police chase.
According to police, Thursday at approximately 8:23 a.m., a Hackettstown officer was on Route 57, when the officer ran a random plate inquiry on a vehicle.
The information revealed that the owner of the vehicle, Erik D. Johnson, 42, of Washington, was wanted out of the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office for larceny.
The officer attempted to stop the vehicle on Route 182, but the driver failed to yield and instead drove in a reckless manner in attempts of eluding the officer.
The driver then continued to elude the officer as he traveled through Hackettstown, Mansfield Twp, Washington Twp (Warren and Morris Counties), Lebanon Township (Hunterdon County) and Independence Twp.
According to police, Hackettstown police terminated the pursuit on Route 46 in Independence Twp. at approximately 9:20 a.m.
The New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit then followed the vehicle through several jurisdictions. As the driver was being followed by NJSP helicopter, police obtained a phone number for the driver and were able to convince him to turn himself into police.
Police arrested Johnson at Scrub-A-Dub car wash on Route 57 at approximately 10:40 a.m.
There were no injuries reported during the incident.
Authorities charged Johnson with second-degree eluding, fourth-degree obstructing the administration of law, fourth-degree hindering, failure to observe a traffic signal, failure to maintain lane, failure to stop or yield, reckless driving and careless driving. He was then turned over to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office and lodged in the Warren County Correctional Facility.