What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Devontae Troy Brooks died on January 13, 2017 in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, with "Vehicle" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.

Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?

The record's agency field reads "New Jersey State Police". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.

Where did this happen?

The record places the death in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, on January 13, 2017. The address as recorded is NJ-49 Bridgeton NJ 08302 Cumberland.

Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?

No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Fatal Encounters record · Independent third-party dataset

Devontae Troy Brooks

January 13, 2017 · Bridgeton, Cumberland County

Details as recorded

Every value below is shown exactly as Fatal Encounters recorded it.^[1]

Name as recorded: Devontae Troy Brooks
Age as recorded: 21
Gender as recorded: Male
Race as reported: African-American/Black
Date of the injury resulting in death: January 13, 2017
Location as recorded: Bridgeton, Cumberland CountyNJ-49 Bridgeton NJ 08302 Cumberland
Highest level of force as recorded: Vehicle

Agencies as recorded

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: New Jersey State Police

An agency appears here because it appears in the record's as-reported agency field, nothing more. Its presence is not a claim of fault or responsibility.

Department pages (matched by this site at high confidence)

New Jersey State Police

The source's account

Fatal Encounters' description of the incident, verbatim. This is the source project's own third-party narrative, not this site's reporting.

Bridgeton Police Department were looking for a Lincoln Continental involved in a crash earlier that evening where the car struck a police officer and drove off, according to police. A New Jersey State Police trooper tried to stop the Lincoln, but the car did not stop, which led to a short pursuit. The pursuit ended when the trooper lost sight of the Lincoln. Bridgeton police reported to State Police a short time later that the car was found crashed into a utility pole on Route 49 east near milepost 25.7. Police said the driver was traveling fast and attempting to turn when it ran off the road and slammed into the utility pole.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2017/01/man_fleeing_police_killed_after_crashing_into_util.html (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

If you are a family member of the person named here, or represent one, and something in this record is wrong, or you want the record removed, requests go through the corrections page. Every request is checked against the source record.

This record is one of the dataset's New Jersey entries from 2000 to 2021. Browse every New Jersey Fatal Encounters record by year.

Questions and answers

What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?: Fatal Encounters records that Devontae Troy Brooks died on January 13, 2017 in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, with "Vehicle" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.
Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?: The record's agency field reads "New Jersey State Police". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.
Where did this happen?: The record places the death in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, on January 13, 2017. The address as recorded is NJ-49 Bridgeton NJ 08302 Cumberland.
Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?: No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Sources

[1]Fatal Encounters, New Jersey subset. Fatal Encounters (fatalencounters.org). Row 9485. Derived from the public Fatal Encounters national dataset (coverage 2000-2021; collection ended December 2021), https://fatalencounters.org/. Retrieved July 10, 2026. ↩