Car chase involving stolen police cruiser sweeps through 7 New Jersey towns

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. (WABC) -- A Connecticut man is hospitalized after police say he carjacked a Mercedes and stole a police cruiser in northern New Jersey.

"I don't know what his motive was, why he did this," said Chief Michael Cioffi, of the Englewood Cliffs Police Department.

Chief Michael Cioffi is talking about Sereymanta Kong, a 22 year old who, driving both a stolen SUV and marked police car, led police on a wild chase through seven towns in Bergen County Sunday afternoon.

"Sirens, lights everything was on and he refused to pull over," Cioffi said.

It all started in Englewood Cliffs.

A woman was driving her 11-year-old son to a playdate and her 13-year-old daughter was also in the vehicle.

She spotted Kong lying in the middle of the street with a water bottle by his side.

"He sat up and began to cough like he was choking so she got scared and thought he was choking, dialed 911, got out to help him," Cioffi said.

But Kong had other plans. Police say he jumped in the SUV and took off with the kids inside.

"She started screaming, her daughter heard her and got out, her son was preoccupied with a game on his phone and she ended up running back to the door and he finally got out," Cioffi said.

He took off again; Kong turned onto 9W and headed north.

By now, several police cars were close behind.

At one point, Kong, unknowingly turned down a dead end street and climbed out of the SUV.

There was a struggle.

Chief Cioffi tells Eyewitness News, officers tried to hit Kong with a baton, he jumped over it, they even pulled out a Taser.

"They were trying to restrain a subject that was obviously mentally unstable, but they didn't' want to hurt him," Cioffi said.

Kong slipped into a marked police car but officers eventually clipped the bumper in Paramus.

Kong, who lives in Connecticut, tried to run again, but this time was taken into custody.

"When I asked him how he got here, he said a sweeper," Cioffi said.

"A sweeper?" Eyewitness News said.

"A sweeper," Cioffi said.

Kong was arrested at the scene, but not before he tried to bite several officers. At least five officers from different jurisdictions went to the hospital, but all are expected to be okay.

Kong is being held on $1 million bond.