Man said he has AIDS, tried to bite cop, died in crash speeding away, police say

SPRINGFIELD (Union) — A driver who sped away from a Union Township police officer after trying to bite hm crashed into an office building and died when his stolen Jaguar caught fire, police said.

Union County Prosecutor Thomas Isehour said the police were called to the Target in the Vauxhall section Union Township on Springfield Avenue, where employees said a man was stealing hundreds of dollars worth of of over-the-counter medicine.

When the officers approached him the parking lot, he tried to bite them and took off west on Springfield Avenue (Route 124)  toward Springfield, the prosecutor's office said.

Officials told CBS New York the man told police he had AIDS.

Union Police gave chase before the man, whose identity was not disclosed, lost control and slammed into the building which also houses Advanced Pain Center, according to Isehour.

Officers unsuccessfully tried to rescue the man from his vehicle, which overturned and caught fire, the prosecutor's office said. The man was declared dead at the scene.

Isehour said three officers were taken to Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston for smoke inhalation.

The Jaguar was also determined to have been stolen in Livingston a week ago.

Isehour asked anyone with information about the incident to call the Prosecutor's Office to call 908-966-2287.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.