Two Newark police officers were hurt and a suspect critically injured during a chaotic apparent stolen vehicle stop in New Jersey's largest city Monday night, the state attorney general's office said Tuesday.
The officers have since been released from the hospital.
According to the investigation, the cops were in a marked patrol car when they noticed a reportedly stolen SUV parked near Clinton Place and Hawthorne Avenue. They checked it out and saw a man in the driver's seat.
As the officers were detaining the passenger, another man came out of a nearby store, entered the SUV and got behind the wheel. Cops tried to detain him. A struggle ensued, and the SUV lurched -- initially backward, then forward.
One officer fired his service weapon, striking the suspect. The SUV then hit the officers' patrol car, which was at a right angle to block the reportedly stolen vehicle. The SUV then moved forward across the street, onto a sidewalk and crashed into a building and other unoccupied cars.
No additional injuries were reported.
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The investigation is ongoing by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.
