A 65-year-old North Carolina man has been charged with crashing into a police car during a pursuit after he allegedly stabbed a Montgomery Township man.
Brian Pyke, of Calabash, North Carolina, has been charged with second-degree aggravated assault, second-degree eluding and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with the June 16 incident, according to Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald.
The township man who was stabbed is expected to survive after undergoing emergency surgery at an area hospital, the prosecutor said.
No police officers were injured in the crash during the pursuit that went through the township and Princeton before ending in South Brunswick.
The incident began Monday afternoon at about 1:22 p.m. when township police officers, emergency medical personnel and Robert Wood Johnson paramedics responded to the area of Willow Run Lane in the Belle Mead section on a report of a man with stab wounds. The emergency responders provided care to the victim before he was taken to the hospital.
McDonald said the motive for the stabbing remains under investigation.
Witnesses provided Somerset County 911 dispatchers with a description of a suspect in a red SUV fleeing the area after the stabbing, McDonald said.
After that information was relayed to Montgomery police, officers located the vehicle on Somerset County Route 533 (Millstone River Road). When officers initiated a vehicle stop, Pyke allegedly refused to stop, resulting in a pursuit through Montgomery, Princeton and into South Brunswick, McDonald said.
During the pursuit, Pyke allegedly struck a Montgomery Township Police vehicle, according to the prosecutor.
It’s the second time this month that a police vehicle was struck by a suspect during a pursuit in Somerset County. On June 7, a Perth Amboy man allegedly struck a Franklin Township police vehicle as officers tried to stop him after a report of animal cruelty.
Pyke was stopped and arrested in South Brunswick.
After Pyke was treated at the hospital for minor injuries, he was returned to Montgomery Township Police headquarters. He was later taken to the Somerset County Jail where he remains pending a detention hearing before Superior Court Judge Peter Tober.
His next court appearance after that is a pre-indictment conference before Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski on Aug. 8.
McDonald thanked the South Brunswick Police Department for its assistance with the investigation and the citizens that alerted authorities who gave authorities a description of the vehicle.
The Montgomery Township Police Detective Bureau and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit are continuing their investigation.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100 or the Montgomery Township Police Department at 908-359-3222 or via the STOPit app. Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477). All anonymous STOPit reports, and Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.
Email: mdeak@MyCentralJersey.com
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Montgomery NJ stabbing suspect arrested after chase through Princeton