Riverside Officer Struck and Injured by Fleeing Vehicle
On 2/28/15 at 0103 hours Riverside Township
Police received a call for a suspicious vehicle parked in the Riverside
Township Elementary School parking lot at 120 East Washington St.
Upon arrival officers made contact with two
occupants in the vehicle, a male in the driver’s seat later found to be a
Brandon Belton age 23 of Willingboro NJ, and a female in the front passenger
seat know to be Bonnie Manning age 39 of Riverside NJ.
Upon making contact with the driver he became
uncooperative and refused to show the officer his hands. The driver of the
vehicle shifted the vehicle into drive and accelerated at a high rate of speed.
The initial officer on location, Sgt. Amaya
Urtasun, a 16 year veteran of Riverside Township Police Department was at the
driver’s side door when the vehicle accelerated and struck Sgt. Urtasun. Sgt.
Urtasun was drug approximately 30-40 feet, the vehicle swerved in the direction
of a parked car. Sgt. Urtasun struck the parked vehicle and was thrown to the
ground. The suspect vehicle came to rest as it collided head on with a
Riverside Township Police patrol vehicle that was parked in the driveway of the
exit of the school parking lot. That police vehicle was not occupied at the
time of the impact.
Both suspects were removed from the car and
taken into custody without incident. An unknown amount of suspected Marijuana was
observed in plain view in the vehicle. The vehicle was impounded pending
further investigation.
Sgt. Urtasun sustained knee and abdominal
injuries. She was transported to Cooper Hospital Camden for treatment.
Both suspected are facing charges for Trespassing,
Obstruction of the Administration of Law, Resisting Arrest, Aggravated Assault
on a police officer, Criminal Attempted Manslaughter, Assault by Auto and drug
charges. Both subjects were committed to the Burlington County Jail pending a
court appearance.
Additional charges are pending.
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| Brandon Belton |
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| Bonnie Manning |