Man Arrested After Stealing Police Van and Crashing into Two Police Vehicles
For Immediate
Release: January 17, 2022
On January 14,
2022, a 40 year old man was arrested after stealing an Atlantic City Police
Department prisoner van and ramming it into two marked patrol cars.
At
approximately 7:20 pm, Officers William Akins and Jarae Langford were at the
Clayton G. Graham Public Safety Building when they were alerted by a concerned
citizen that there was a man attempting to steal their marked patrol vehicle,
which was parked on Atlantic Avenue. The officers immediately investigated and
witnessed Jason Urbaniak attempting to open the locked driver’s side door to
the patrol vehicle. Urbaniak was confronted by officers and admitted to the
officers that he was attempting to steal their police vehicle. He was taken
into custody without incident. Urbaniak was lodged in the police department’s
holding facility for processing of attempted burglary charges.
At
approximately 10:50 PM, Urbaniak was released from the holding facility on a
summons for his charges. After being released, Urbaniak entered a parked
Atlantic City Police Department prisoner van. He was able to manipulate the
ignition of the van and start the vehicle before driving off. Police
communications was immediately notified of the stolen van. Minutes later,
Officer Tyler Daily located the stolen prisoner van in the 200 block of north
Iowa Avenue. Additional responding officers arrived on scene and pulled behind
the van to conduct a motor vehicle stop. Without warning, Urbaniak began to
reverse the van, accelerated at a high rate of speed, and rammed the van into two
marked patrol vehicles causing extensive damage. Officers were able to take
Urbaniak into custody without further incident.
As a result of
the crash, Officer Consuelo Maldonado suffered a minor injury and was
transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center where she was treated and
released. Urbaniak was not injured in the crash.
An
investigation into how Urbaniak was able to start the van is currently
underway.
ARRESTED: Jason Urbaniak, a 40 year-old male from
Blackwood NJ.
CHARGES: 2 counts of aggravated assault on police, 2
counts of attempted aggravated assault on police, 2 counts of assault by auto,
theft of a motor vehicle, eluding, and criminal attempt burglary.
Urbaniak was
remanded to the Atlantic County Justice Facility. Charges are mere accusations,
and the accused are considered innocent until proven guilty.
Anyone with
information regarding this incident is urged to contact the Atlantic City
Police Department Special Investigations Section at 609-347-5858 or text
anonymously to tip411 (847411). Begin
the text with ACPD.
###
Alert sent on
01/17/2022 at 5:41PM EST
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