Stolen Vehicle Pursuit Leads to Car Crash Into Bernards Tree

Fireworks were not the only excitement in Bernards on the Fourth of July, when a stolen car chase ended with the vehicle crashing into a tree outside Dewy Meadows Mall.

According to a police report released on Tuesday, July 6, Bernards Township police assisted the Berkeley Heights Police department in a vehicle pursuit that wound through Long Hill Township before finally coming to a close on King George Road in Bernards. Bernards officers responded at 5:22 p.m. on July 4 after the pursuit was first initiated in Berkeley Heights.

The car being pursued, a 2007 BMW, was reported stolen on June 30 in Far Hills Township.

The driver, Carolyn Mendez-Molder was taken into custody by Bernards and Berkeley Heights police officers following a brief foot chase after Mendez-Molder lost control of her car and crashed into a tree near Dewy Meadows Mall. The driver exited the vehicle and began to run before being caught.

Mendez-Molder and the vehicle were turned over the Berkeley Heights Police department. Motor vehicle and criminal charges are pending because the pursuit was initiated in Union County, passed through Morris County and ended in Somerset County. The three county prosecutor's offices will come to a determination as to what each town/county charges.