Police chase ends with officer struck, shot fired in Piscataway cemetery

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police in New Jersey took a suspect into custody inside a cemetery Wednesday morning after an incident in which authorities say an officer was struck by a vehicle and fired a single shot at the suspect.

The scene came to its conclusion at Resurrection Cemetery in Piscataway, with officers eventually surrounding the heavily-damaged early-model white Honda and closing in on the suspect, who had been doing donuts and running over headstones.

According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor, the shooting was the result of a pursuit that began in New Brunswick and ended with the suspect leading officers through the cemetery, where he circled a number of headstones near a funeral service before his vehicle became mired in the soil.

He was apprehended with the use of a Conducted Energy Device, authorities said.

The incident began at 11:18 a.m. when the suspect ran a red light in New Brunswick and fled when a Rutgers University Police Department officer attempted to stop the vehicle, a 2002 Honda Accord, according to the prosecutor.

The officer broke off the pursuit as the driver fled.

The pursuit played out along Hoes Lane. A road crew was working across the street as the chase was coming to an end.

"Basically, we saw the white sedan just driving through the cemetery," witness Nick Dee said. "It came flying through. He did a couple donuts in the grass, and that was it, it was over. Pretty quick...Police cars. When they first shut the road down, we thought there was another funeral coming in. No. There was about 50 cop cars. It was pretty wild."

Police had sent out alerts to the community that they were pursuing a suspect and to stay indoors. Hoes Lane was also shut down until police cornered the driver.

Jeffrey Troxell, 49, of South Amboy, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and two counts of eluding police. Bail was set at $150,000.

A police presence remained at the cemetery into Wednesday evening.

The police officer, whose name is being withheld at this time, was taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital were he was treated for an unspecified injury and was released.