A crew of reckless New Jersey teens allegedly stole a luxury SUV valued at $220,000 and led cops on an hours-long chase before crashing the vehicle head-on into another car — killing a beloved grandmother and her longtime partner.
Four teens allegedly swiped a 2024 Mercedes-Benz G Wagon early Saturday morning and took it for a joy ride that ended in tragedy when they slammed into a Hyundai sedan while trying to evade cops shortly before 8 a.m., NJ.com reported.
The youths were speeding down the wrong side of the road when they struck the sedan near Route 50 and Third Street in Mays Landing and sent it careening into a nearby gas station, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said.
The crash killed the sedan’s two occupants, Robert Barr, Jr., 54, and Alice Stilwell, 67, from Egg Harbor Township, prosecutors said.
Stilwell was identified as a beloved mother and grandmother, and Barr as her longtime partner, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up to help cover funeral expenses.
The teens escaped the car wreck largely unscathed and attempted to flee, but were quickly arrested, authorities said.
Police had been tailing the stolen G Wagon since about 3:40 a.m. in nearby Longport, when it blasted past a local cop who attempted to pull it over.
Eagle-eyed cops in Hamilton Township then spotted the vehicle and chased after it around 7:45 a.m., but officers had lost sight of it a few minutes before the crash, prosecutors said.
Nayshaun Brown, 18, and three other teens — whose names were not released because they are minors — were charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, joyriding and eluding police after the deadly wreck, according to records.
It’s not clear which one of the teens was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
Information regarding a lawyer representing Brown and the three other teens was not immediately available.
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