Man hit on I-676 after police chase ID'd; video released
CAMDEN, N.J. - Authorities in New Jersey have released the name of a Philadelphia man struck and killed after running onto an interstate after fleeing from Camden police during a traffic stop a month ago.
The New Jersey attorney general’s office on Friday said Rashad Muse, 26, of Philadelphia was the man struck Feb. 6 on Interstate 676. State authorities also released video from police body cameras and a street camera that captured portions of the chase.
Authorities have said that patrol officers spotted a sedan speeding in Camden and tried to stop it, but the vehicle fled. The driver crashed in an underpass, ran up an embankment onto I-676, was struck by several civilian vehicles and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
The attorney general's office said investigators met with Muse's relatives before releasing video recordings from seven police body cameras and a street camera. A state investigation is required whenever a person dies during an encounter with law enforcement.
State officials said that the fleeing vehicle was found after it pulled into a snowy lot, and officers got out of their vehicles and approached, shouting at the driver to get out. Instead, they said, it kept going, striking other multiple other vehicles, including a police vehicle, and drove "very close" to officers on foot before speeding away.
The sedan then crashed into an I-676 underpass support, and the driver emerged and ran, climbing over a fence and running up an embankment onto the highway. There, he was struck by civilian vehicles, and when officers arrived "it was evident that no medical aid could help Mr. Muse," the attorney general's office said.
Officers who entered the highway before it could be closed "were up there to see what they could do to help," Rick Kunkel, president of Camden County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 218, told The (Cherry Hill) Courier Post.
"We’re glad that the body-worn camera footage was released," he said. "I think it shows that the officers acted properly. ... They attempted to de-escalate that situation and get him out of the vehicle."
A police department spokesman declined comment on the case, which remains under investigation.
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