NEW JERSEY OFFICER HIT BY ANOTHER POLICE CAR

In Newark a police officer remains hospitalized after being injured during a chase. The officer was struck by another police car. Eyewitness News reporter Jamie Roth has the story. It was a messy chase indeed, and it almost cost the Newark police officer his life.

It started at a safety checkpoint in Newark. A driver -- trying to escape the checkpoint -- nearly ran down three police officers. That set off a high speed chase -- from Newark -- into East Orange -- and back into Newark where the suspect's car crashed. And that wasn't the end of it. Then came a pursuit on foot - the driver and his passenger ran for it, police ran too.

At the same time, police squad cars were also chasing after those suspects, and a police car ran down one of the men who was trying to escape -- near Martin Luther King Boulevard and James Street. "About 9:30 I saw the police officers chasing a black guy in jeans and all I saw was the police car run over the guy," one witness said.

However, it wasn't a suspect. The police car hit an officer. That officer is now hospitalized and in stable condition. As for the suspect and his passenger -- they're both in custody. They face numerous criminal charges, including aggravated assault against a police officer and possession of a weapon. The weapon in this case was the car.