UPDATE: Police Chase Ends in Heights, Results in DWI Arrest

UPDATE 6:50 p.m. – A police chase ended in Hasbrouck Heights early Friday after county and local police caught up with a man police said had fled his vehicle at the 24 Hour Fitness parking lot and ran into the nearby residential neighborhood.

County police charged Joseph V. Russell, 27, of Ridgefield Park, with drunk driving and eluding in a motor vehicle, according to a statement released by the department Friday. Russel had a blood alcohol level of .14, police said. This was his third DWI arrest since 2006, they said.

The chase began at approximately 7:26 a.m. when Bergen County Police Officer Michael Perry observed a black Dodge Challenger “weaving through traffic at an extremely high rate” on Route 46 West  near Bergen County Technical High School where children were arriving for school, the statement reports.

After losing sight of the vehicle on Route 17, Perry was flagged down by a motorist who advised a “black sports car” drove through the parking lot of 24 Hour Fitness and “almost struck several people” according to police.  The vehicle was found left in the fire zone behind 24 Hour Fitness.

Hasbrouck Heights Police received a call from a resident alerting them of a suspicious male hiding in the backyard, police confirmed. Perry surrendered to police after a short foot chase, according to the report. According to Heights police the chase ended in the area Hasbrouck and Hillside avenues.

This article was first published at 2:08 p.m. Revised with information from county police at 6:50 p.m.

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