An armed robbery in a New Jersey community led to a police chase and deadly crash in a neighboring town early Tuesday, a law enforcement source close to the investigation says.
The victims of the robbery on Carey Court in Montclair called police to report the crime, according to sources. Responding officers spotted the vehicle that was said to be involved and started to pursue it, the source said.
The chase stretched into Glen Ridge and the vehicle police were chasing ended up crashing off Bloomfield Avenue, by Ridgewood Avenue, around 5 a.m.
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Two of the three people in the heavily damaged silver Hyundai, which ended up wrapped around a tree, died at the scene, officials have said. The other was said to be hospitalized in critical condition. A large amount of money was found in the vehicle, the source said, along with a handgun.
The car struck several trees and split into pieces in the wooded area where it crashed, not far from a train station and schools.
Chopper 4 captured a heavy law enforcement response at the crash scene. It also spotted about a dozen police cars in a shopping center parking lot about a half-mile away in Montclair, which is the area where the source said the robbery happened.
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Streets were closed down in the area around both locations for hours as authorities investigated. No information was immediately available on those who died.
The Essex County prosecutor's office referred questions to the state attorney general's office, which is leading the investigation because police were involved. The attorney general has not released a statement, but investigators have been actively looking for surveillance video.
