Fire Rescue News - Stolen Paramedic Vehicle Crashed After Police Chase Killing 81yr Old Man
By DANIEL WALSH, Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 11 comments
A Bridgeton man faces murder charges after allegedly stealing a paramedic vehicle and crashing into another vehicle, killing the driver, while trying to elude police.
Michael A. Jones, 46, allegedly stole the sport utility vehicle from a remote paramedic station for Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Franklin Township at about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday and fled southward into Vineland, where city police picked up the chase around Delsea Drive and Chestnut Avenue.....Continue Reading
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Police followed as Jones fled east on Chestnut Avenue, Vineland police Lt. Tom Ulrich said. A police supervisor called off the pursuit due to heavy traffic near Memorial School at about 9 a.m.
Moments later, Jones struck the driver's side of a vehicle driven by 81-year-old Alfred Costantino, who was pulling out off Holmes Avenue near his home, Ulrich said. Costantino died at the scene.
Police said Jones was charged with murder because the fatal wreck happened during the commission of a crime.
Jones has spent much of his adult life in and out of state prison, beginning with a 1991 conviction for burglary, state Department of Corrections spokesman Matt Schuman said. Most of his convictions stemmed from theft and burglary or parole violations and flights from police stemming from those incidents.
"In a number of cases, he would get paroled, and he would violate the parole or resist arrest," Schuman said. "He was in and out a number of times."
Most recently, Jones was released Aug. 29 from Southern State Correctional Facility in Maurice River Township after serving time for resisting arrest and creating a public risk while operating a motor vehicle in Essex County - essentially the same thing he allegedly did Tuesday in the chase that led to Costantino's death.
His last known address is 110 E. Commerce St. in Bridgeton.
Police are still investigating why Jones allegedly stole the SUV and where he was going.
Franklin Township police learned Jones stole the vehicle after paramedics reported it stolen from the Franklinville Fire Company, the remote station at which they were based, Franklin Township police Capt. Cleo Howe said. Authorities then tracked the vehicle in Hamilton Township using global positioning system software installed in the vehicle, Howe said. Police initiated contact with him, and the chase led into Vineland, where city police picked up the pursuit.
Jones was being held at Vineland police headquarters pending a transfer to Cumberland County Jail. No bail had yet been set.
