Driver drags cops through Wawa before wild NJ chase

MILLVILLE — A police officer was dragged through a Wawa parking lot in an incident that also injured a pedestrian and damaged a minivan during a high-speed chase.

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said police in Millville attempted to stop driver Jacob D. Griffiths, 40, of Bridgeton, and a female passenger near Bluebird Lane around 9:10 a.m. Griffiths was driving a vehicle thought to be have been involved in a robbery in Vineland. The pursuit was called off for safety concerns.

Millville police officers spotted the car in the parking lot of a Wawa on Route 47 in the Dorchester section of Maurice River Township. When they tried to arrest Griffiths, he got back into his vehicle and fled again with an officer hanging on for a short time.

Griffith hit a person standing near the gas pumps fleeing the store and led police in a second chase on Route 49 in Maurice River Township, according to Webb-McRae.

Video posted by NBC Philadelphia shows the pursuit ending when Griffith sideswiped an oncoming SUV at Union Road.

Several hospitalized

The officer, pedestrian and the occupants of both vehicles were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Inspira Medical Center.

Griffiths was charged with two counts of second-degree eluding, four counts of second- degree aggravated assault for causing bodily injury while eluding law enforcement, two counts of third-degree hindering apprehension and one count of fourth-degree obstruction.