Woman killed, child injured in South Jersey crash after she allegedly fled from police
Holly Hageman, 41, was a backseat passenger in a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation in Gloucester County when she climbed into the driver's seat and sped away, authorities said.
A 41-year-old woman was killed and a 5-year-old child injured after the woman allegedly fled from a police traffic stop and crashed a vehicle into a tree early Monday, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.
The woman was identified as Holly Hageman, but no other information about her was released. The child’s injuries were not life-threatening, the prosecutor’s office said.
Just after 11:55 p.m. Sunday, Mantua Township police conducted a vehicle stop for a traffic violation on southbound Route 55.
While one officer was standing with the driver outside the vehicle, another officer ordered Hageman, who was a backseat passenger, to exit the vehicle, the prosecutor’s office said.
“Instead, Hageman climbed into the driver’s seat and drove away at a high rate of speed. Also present in the vehicle at the time was a 5-year-old child,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Police lost track of the vehicle and transported the driver to the Mantua Township Police Department.
Mantua police were then notified by the New Jersey State Police that Hageman had crashed into a tree about three miles from the original traffic stop and sustained fatal injuries, the prosecutor’s office said.
The investigation was ongoing.
