A 28-year-old Paterson man died after crashing his motorized scooter into a car while being chased by a Totowa police officer, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced on Thursday. The office is investigating the fatal incident.
David Lucero was driving the scooter with an unidentified passenger on Sept. 20, when Totowa Police Patrolman Damiano DiIorio started following them in a marked patrol car, according to the office. The chase went from Totowa to Paterson, where the scooter hit a car near McBride and Murray avenues at 7:19 p.m., investigators said. The impact ejected Lucero and his passenger from the scooter.
Both men were rushed to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, where Lucero died at 2:06 a.m. the next day, authorities said. The others in the collision, including the scooter passenger, suffered minor injuries, officials said.