Correctional cop killed after car chase from Hillside to Newark

A correctional police officer was killed after getting trapped in a car that was struck by a vehicle that was fleeing police early Saturday.

The Attorney General's Office said police in Hillside gave chase to a Nissan Altima with three men.

The car led police into neighboring Newark, where the gray sedan crashed into a Ford Mustang about 2:37 a.m. at Bragaw Avenue and Aldine Street. The Mustang was pushed into a pole, trapping the correctional officer who was behind the wheel, officials said.

Sources at the scene told told RLS Metro Breaking News that one person was trapped. That turned out to be the officer, identified by PBA Local 105 on their Twitter account as Omar Martin, who worked at the Northern State Prison in Newark. State records show he had more than 11 years of service.

Martin was the only person in the Mustang. Two people in the fleeing vehicle were hospitalized and are expected to survive, state officials said.

The union said that car being pursued had been stolen.

The state Attorney General's Office took over the investigation because a state law enacted this year requires them to investigate deadly incidents involving on-duty law enforcement officers.

State officials have not identified any of the men in the fleeing vehicle and have not announced any criminal charges.

Martin is the second correctional police officer to die in a car crash this summer.

Officer Sean Brown, 34, of Barnegat, who worked at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Crosswicks, died in a head-on crash on Route 72 in Woodland on July 20.