Cops arrest 3rd Newark teen in Hazlet after day-long manhunt

HAZLET — After a day-long search, police on Tuesday night arrested the third suspect involved in a car chase that ended in a crash on Route 35. A fourth suspect remains at large.

The incident began about 4 a.m. with Holmdel police chasing an Audi stolen from Montville after seeing four people wearing ski masks inside. The car crashed into another vehicle on Route 35. Police arrested two 17-year-olds from Newark after chasing them on foot.

After an all-day yard-by-yard search in the Raritan Bayshore area of Monmouth County, one of the suspects was reported by a resident to be in the Calt Drive area of Hazlet around 6 p.m. on Tuesday but was gone by the time police arrived.

K9 units tracked the man toward the Costco a mile away on Route 35. Hazlet police said they received calls that he was seen hiding under cars in the shared parking lot of the Cinemark Hazlet 12 movie theater.

Officers from Holmdel and Union Beach, who had been assisting with the investigation, arrested the suspect around 7:30 p.m. and took him to Hackensack Meridian Health Bayshore Medical Center. He was identified as a juvenile from Newark.

A worker at a hotel on Route 35 notified Hazlet police that earlier in the day a 17-year-old had tried to rent a room but was turned away because of his age. He called a cab and returned to Newark, according to Hazlet police, who believe this is the fourth suspect.

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