LAWRENCE: Hightstown man leads police on erratic chase, now faces several charges

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
LAWRENCE — A Highstown man who led police on a chase that started in Lawrence and ended up in West Windsor has been charged with attempting to elude police, driving under the influence and other offenses, according to the Police Department.
Joseph Ciccarello, 65, of Hightstown was also charged with reckless driving, failure to maintain lane, delaying traffic and failure to pull over for an emergency vehicle as a result of the incident, which was reported at 6:47 p.m. Feb. 21 on Brunswick Pike, police said.
The incident began when the Police Department received a report of an erratic driver on Brunswick Pike. The car driven by Mr. Ciccarello drove past a police officer that had been sent to look for the car. As soon as the officer saw the car drive past, he pulled out and began to follow.
The car was being driven at less than the speed limit in the 55-miles-per-hour zone, causing traffic to back up behind it, police said. The car also drifted onto the shoulder and then back onto the roadway. The car continued to slow down and speed up.
When the police officer turned on the patrol car’s emergency lights and sirens to stop the driver, it appeared that the car would stop — but then Mr. Ciccarello accelerated and continued to swerve in and out of lanes on Brunswick Pike, police said.
The officer continued to chase the car into West Windsor Township. The driver turned onto Washington Road, traveling toward Hightstown. The officer followed Mr. Ciccarello’s car on Washington Road onto Station Road, where it comes to a dead end at the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks.
Mr. Ciccarello tried to turn onto a small access road that runs parallel to the railroad tracks, but did not negotiate the turn. The car struck a guardrail head-on and came to a stop. At that point, West Windsor Township police officers arrived at the scene.
Mr. Ciccarello was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center to be checked for any injuries as a result of the accident. He was then taken to the Mercer County Corrections Center on $25,000 bail, without the 10-percent option.