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Paramus Police Charge Motorcyclist In Chase That Led To Fatal Crash

PARAMUS, N.J. -- An Orange County, N.Y. motorcyclist who led a police chase that caused a crash that killed a motorist Thursday afternoon in Hackensack was hospitalized under guard after Paramus police charged him with eluding.

Salvatore Deangelis

Salvatore Deangelis

Photo Credit: COURTESY: Bergen County Prosecutor

Salvatore Deangelis, 31, of Harriman, also was issued several traffic summonses, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. Bail was set at $50,000, the chief said.

Other charges were likely as a result of the chase, which began just before 2 p.m. when a Paramus police officer tried to pull over Deangelis's 2016 Yamaha R1 motorcycle for speeding in and out of lanes on northbound Route 17, Ehrenberg said.

Deangelis sped off as officers tried to pull him over, making a U-turn at Linwood Avenue and heading south on the highway, the chief said.

He then "slowed down and drove into the parking lot of the Garden State Plaza, then crossed the bridge into the Ikea parking lot, then proceeded back onto Route 17 south" to eastbound Route 4, he said.

Officers lost him at the River Edge border and issued an alert to surrounding towns.

A Hackensack police unit was headed to join the chase with its lights and siren activated when it t-boned a silver sedan that suddenly pulled into its path in the 500 block of Summit Avenue near Ross Avenue, responders told Daily Voice.

The driver -- a 67-year-old Hackensack man -- went into cardiac arrest, Police Director Michael Mordaga said. He was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he died.

The officer also was taken to the hospital for observation.

Ambulances from Holy Name and HUMC responded, along with several city police and Bergen County sheriff's units.

Deangelis, meanwhile, was spotted on Johnson Avenue and later spun out and crashed on Spring Valley Avenue near Coles Avenue, Maywood Police Chief Dave Pegg said.

Maywood EMS took him to HUMC with injuries that Pegg said weren't considered life-threatening.

Deangelis received summonses for reckless and careless driving, as well as improper passing, among other offenses. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit took over the probe.

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