Police chase in North Bergen kills driver and innocent victim

🚨Police pursuit in North Bergen ends in fatal crash late Sunday

🚨Both drivers killed in Tonnelle Avenue crash

🚨State Attorney General’s office reviewing deadly police chase

NORTH BERGEN — Two drivers were killed in a crash involving a police pursuit late Sunday night.

A vehicle being pursued by a marked North Bergen police vehicle late Sunday night struck another on Tonnelle Avenue between 50th and 51st streets, killing both drivers, according to the  Attorney General's Office.

Traffic violation leads to deadly crash on Tonnelle

State officials said Lt. Jason Appello began following a Honda Accord in his marked police vehicle after seeing a a traffic violation at the intersection of 70th Street and Tonnelle Avenue.

At 11:18 p.m., the Accord collided with an uninvolved Toyota Corolla on Tonnelle Avenue, between 50th and 51st streets.

The driver being followed by police was identified as Joseph Aziz, 20, of Jersey City.

The uninolved driver who also died was identified as Bryan Rivera, 24, of North Bergen.

A passenger in Aziz's Accord was hospitalized and released, while the three passengers in Rivera's Corolla remain in the hospital, officials said Tuesday evening.

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State investigation into pursuit-related deaths

Video shows both vehicles in the crash severely damaged with debris, which included soccer balls, scattered all over the roadway. A witness to the crash told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that some of the passengers in one of the cars in the crash were wearing soccer uniforms.

Under state law, the Attorney General's Office must investigate a death that happens during an encounter with an on-duty law enforcement officer.

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