Police chase in Camden ends with a fatal crash

A Lawnside man died early Friday and a Lindenwold man was seriously injured after a routine stop for a seat-belt violation escalated into a police chase, authorities said.

After about six blocks, the 31-year-old driver from Lindenwold crashed, wrapping the car around a utility pole, which snapped at the base, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said. The crash killed a 28-year-old passenger from Lawnside.

The driver was in critical condition Friday at Cooper University Hospital after the 4:30 a.m. crash at Haddon Avenue and Copewood Street, authorities said.

Early information suggested the Camden "officer involved acted appropriately," the Prosecutor's Office said.

According to authorities, sometime before 4:30 a.m., a Camden officer saw that the driver of the Mercury Grand Marquis was not wearing a seat belt and tried to stop the car. The officer turned on his roof lights at Atlantic Avenue and Rose Street, but the car didn't stop.

The officer followed the car onto Haddon Avenue, where he saw a backpack, then a shotgun, tossed out a window.

The Mercury accelerated and blocks later crashed into the utility pole, not far from Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center.

Chief Scott Thomson said the officer's actions appeared to have been "consistent with departmental procedures."

The department's pursuit policy is consistent with guidelines set by the state Attorney General's Office, but is more restrictive, Thomson said.

The attorney general's policy says officers can engage in pursuit when they believe violators pose a threat to the public. But they must consider factors such as the likelihood of a successful apprehension, road conditions, and the nature of the neighborhood, the policy says.

Authorities didn't release the name of the driver or the officer's identity, pending an investigation.

The passenger's identification was withheld pending notification of his family.