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NJ State Police Under Fire For Escorting "High-Speed Caravan Of Sports Cars" To Atlantic City
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 23, 2012
Modified Apr 23, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 23, 2012
Modified Apr 23, 2012
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Do you know what the NJ State Police are good at, besides getting governors into nearly life-threatening car accidents (well, when the governors don't buckle up) or flying around governors in helicopters? Escort luxury sports cars at over 100 mph when the drivers really need to get to Atlantic City! There's an investigation into the so-called "Death Race" caravans, one of which included former NY Giant Brandon Jacobs and apparently scared one older driver into nearly driving into a ditch.
The Star-Ledger reported yesterday:
...on the afternoon of March 30, two patrol cars with flashing emergency lights led and trailed the southbound caravan down the Garden State Parkway. Witnesses said the caravan included 25 to 30 Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other vehicles, all with their license plates covered with tape.
One witness, Wayne Gantt of Little Egg Harbor Township, dubbed the escort "Death Race 2012."
Four sources familiar with the trip, including two law enforcement sources, said the caravan was led by Sgt. 1st Class Nadir Nassry of Phillipsburg, an assistant station commander in the State Police’s Totowa substation. Nassry could not be reached for comment, and no one answered when a reporter knocked on the front door of his home today.
The sources requested anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the matter.
Gantt and another witness, John Kennedy of Madison, filed complaints with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which oversees the parkway. They said many drivers struggled to get out of the way of the caravan, including one older driver who panicked and almost wound up in a ditch.
Then videos of a 2010 "Death Race" surfaced—it's believed the sports cars were headed to the Annual Hamilton Jewelers/Ferrari Rally in Red Bank—and the drivers of a mere Mitsubishi Evolution VIII joined in the caravan, "Doing 100, doing 100! It’s the New Jersey State Police. In the Evolution VIII cruising and we can’t keep up. This is the highlight of my life. We’re doing 110. 110."
The NJ Attorney General's office is investigating. A representative for Jacobs, who now plays for the 49ers, said, "Brandon was part of a group that went down to Atlantic City on March 30." Last fall, Jacobs told Rides magazine that he rides with the Driving Force Club, "We probably do, like, 100 miles. Sometimes we’ll end up on an airstrip and do some racing, but other than that, we always cool."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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