A Teaneck police traffic stop turned into an arrest Sunday night when a 2009 Mercedes-Benz with a stolen license plate kept going eastbound and then ran into heavy GWB traffic near the George Washington Bridge. The driver, Nathan Wong of Brooklyn, was taken into custody on an exit ramp in Fort Lee after the vehicle could not get through.
The stop began around 9:40 p.m. Sunday near Route 4 East and Farragut Drive, where a Teaneck police officer tried to pull over the Mercedes. Seth B. Kriegel said the officer attempted to stop the vehicle there, but the driver failed to stop and continued eastbound. From there, the path narrowed to the bridgebound route, and the car eventually came to a stop because traffic had already locked up ahead.
Wong, 25, was charged with second-degree eluding, third-degree receiving stolen property and fourth-degree resisting and obstructing, along with multiple motor vehicle violations. He remained held Tuesday in the Bergen County Jail to await a court hearing.
The twist in the case is plain: the same congestion that helped end the pursuit also kept Wong from getting away. The Mercedes was reportedly being driven on a stolen plate, but the report does not say how that plate was identified before the stop or how long Wong had been on the run before the traffic near the George Washington Bridge slowed everything to a standstill.
For now, the arrest is the clearest endpoint. What remains is the court hearing, where the charges and the failed flight from Teaneck will be sorted out in open court.
