NJ Mayor's Wife Injured After ICE Pursuit Ends in Crash

An early-morning ICE traffic stop in New Jersey ended with a mayor's wife in the hospital. Officials say federal immigration agents pulled over a vehicle in North Brunswick around 7:30am Wednesday when the driver allegedly took off, ran a red light, and slammed into a car driven by Dr. Penelope Cohen, NJ.com reports. Cohen, a dermatologist, is the wife of East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen. She was hospitalized with injuries that officials say are non-life-threatening. The fleeing driver, who took off on foot but was quickly detained by federal agents, was also hospitalized.

North Brunswick Mayor Francis "Mac" Womack stressed that local officers were not part of the ICE operation and only responded after the crash. Womack said that before the pursuit, ICE agents had smashed the window of the driver's car in an attempt to get him out of the vehicle, the New York Times reports. Seth Kaper-Dale, a pastor at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, said ICE detentions in New Jersey have increased at a "brutal" pace in recent weeks. "ICE must be held accountable for its crimes of attempting to kidnap our neighbors and causing unbelievable danger on our roads," the pastor said on Facebook. "Someone needs to go to jail—and it isn't the immigrant who was just trying to drive to work."