Crime & Safety

Phantom Motorcyclist Of Route 9 Facing 'Dozens' of Other Charges

Christopher Lane to be charged by four separate police departments for a multitude of motor vehicle charges

 

who eluded police officers from four towns as he roared down Route 9 at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour recently is facing "dozens" of other charges, Berkeley Township Detective James J. Smith said.

Christopher Lane - who defiantly gave police officers the finger as he sped down Route 9 during rush hour - will also be charged separately by the Berkeley, Pine Beach, Beachwood and South Toms River police departments, Smith said.

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"He's facing dozens of summonses," said Smith. "There's a lot of motor vehicle charges from many towns."

For more than a week in late August, Lane hopped on his neon-green Kawasaki  with no license plates and careened down Route 9 through Bayville, Pine Beach and Beachwood, hitting speeds of more than 100 miles per hour, police have said.

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Police charged Lane, 23, Browns Mills, on Aug. 30 with seven counts of eluding police after he was finally apprehended at his workplace in Lakewood. Berkeley Township Municipal Court Judge James Gluck set Lane's bail at $205,000, with no ten percent option.

Officers from the four police departments were unable to pursue Lane up traffic-choked Route 9 because of the rush hour traffic on a number of occasions.

But Berkeley Detective Joseph Robertazzi and Beachwood Detective Sgt. Glen DeMarco spotted Lane from the vantage point of a New Jersey State Police helicopter they boarded during the early morning hours of Aug. 30 from a ballfield in Manitou Park.

The helicopter tracked him as he entered the Garden State Parkway northbound, then got off at Exit 91 in Brick Township. He was finally apprehended at a commercial business near 4th Street and Monmouth Avenue in Lakewood.

Lane was taken to the Beachwood Police Department where he was interviewed by detectives. He admitted his involvement in rides over the past week, on Aug 22, Aug. 23, Aug. 24, Aug. 28, Aug. 29 and this morning, Smith said.

Lane told police he eluded police because he had traffic warrants and a suspended driver's license, Smith has said.

Lane, whose address is 50 Sepulga Drive in Browns Mills, had been staying at his girlfriend's house in Bayville. Police seized his 2005 Kawasaki ZX6.


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