Police say Angel Monanez-Vazquez was DWI when he crashed the stolen Lexus ES he was driving, then tried to flee a trooper before the damaged vehicle came to a halt.
HAMILTON -- A Connecticut man was arrested by State Police after a chase on the New Jersey Turnpike Sunday morning, when a trooper approached him after he crashed the stolen Lexus he was driving.
Angel Montanez-Vaquez, 21, of Manchester, Conn., was charged with receiving stolen property, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, eluding apprehension, and DWI, said Trooper Alejandro Goez, a State Police spokesman.
It was just after 10 a.m., when Goez said a trooper was dispatched milepost 57 on the turnpike's southbound side, in Hamilton Township, on a report of a single-car crash.
At the location, the trooper spotted a Lexus ES sedan, but when he approached the Lexus sped away, Goez said. He said the Lexus turned out to have been stolen in Hartford, Conn.
In his cruiser, the trooper pursued the Lexus, which soon made a U-turn using a turnpike maintenance driveway, and then headed northbound on the inner roadway, Goez said. He didn't get far, though, Goez said.
The Lexus soon came to a halt on the shoulder at mile post 78.2 in East Brunswick, near the Joyce Kilmer Rest Area, Goez said.
Montenez-Vazquez was arrested without incident, Goez said.
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