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Clifton PD: Speeding ATV Rider Sends Sidewalk Bystanders Fleeing

CLIFTON, N.J. -- Clifton police chased down an ATV rider who sped along a sidewalk, sending bystanders fleeing, then jumped off and ran through several backyards and an apartment complex before his pursuers caught him in Passaic, authorities said Wednesday morning.

Elizjah T. Booker

Elizjah T. Booker

Photo Credit: MUGSHOT: Courtesy CLIFTON PD

In the end, the pursuing officers saw his shoes sticking out of a set of bushes and arrested 18-year-old Elizjah T. Booker of Passaic, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said.

Officers Matthew Philips and Michael Resciniti were patrolling the area of Highland Avenue when they spotted Booker speeding and not wearing a helmet on the ATV near the Second Street intersection, Bracken said.

Seeing them, Booker "made an abrupt U-turn and started traveling on the sidewalk," the lieutenant said. "He continued riding at a high rate of speed while causing innocent bystanders to run off of the sidewalk in order to avoid being struck."

Booker refused to stop, leaing a chase through neighborhood street in Clifton and Passaic, Bracken said.

Then he "suddenly jumped off of the ATV and began to flee on foot," the lieutenant said.

After running to the back of a Sanford Street residence, Booker hopped a chain-link fence and jumped off of a retaining wall, then ran through an apartment complex with the officers still in pursuit, Bracken said.

In the area of 6th Avenue in Passaic, the officers noticed shoes sticking out of a set of bushes. They ordered Booker out of hiding and took him into custody without incident, the lieutenant said.

Booker was charged with eluding and resisting arrest and released, under the 2017 New Jersey bail reform law, pending a detention hearing.

"The officers did an outstanding job in their relentless effort to subdue this suspect," Bracken said.

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