Dustin DeStefano

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

Name as recorded

Dustin DeStefano

Age as recorded

22

Gender as recorded

Male

Race as reported

Race unspecified

Date of the injury resulting in death

May 31, 2000

Location as recorded

Green Township, Sussex County141 Brighton Rd Green Township NJ 07821 Sussex

Highest level of force as recorded

Vehicle

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: Andover Township Police Department

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.

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

Andover Township Police Sgt. Phillip Coleman saw Dustin DeStefano driving recklessly on Route 206, police said. The motorcycle was speeding and improperly passing traffic by crossing over a double-yellow line. With his cruiser lights flashing, Coleman chased the motorcycle, trying to pull it over, but DeStefano sped away and turned left onto Route 603. At that point, Coleman lost sight of DeStefano and reportedly halted the pursuit in accordance with state guidelines for backing off high-speed chases. DeStefano crashed and died a short time later.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11eRXvj8hQfA3oAj5sGE8kl_Z_gYCe0730tJrgR44NcU/edit?usp=sharing (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Dustin DeStefano died on May 31, 2000 in Green Township, Sussex 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.

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Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?

The record's agency field reads "Andover Township Police Department". 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.

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Where did this happen?

The record places the death in Green Township, Sussex County, on May 31, 2000. The address as recorded is 141 Brighton Rd Green Township NJ 07821 Sussex.

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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.

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