Fatal Encounters record · Independent third-party dataset
Dustin DeStefano
May 31, 2000 · Green Township, Sussex County
Details as recorded
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
Where the dataset places it
The marked point is the dataset's own geocoded location for this record, as recorded. Every other New Jersey record in the dataset is shown in gray. A point on a map is where a death was recorded, not a finding about anyone.
Agencies as recorded
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.
Department pages (matched by this site at high confidence)
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.
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).
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 is one of 25 New Jersey records the dataset dates to 2000, and one of 9 it holds for Sussex County across 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 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.
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.
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.
Sources
- [1]Fatal Encounters, New Jersey subset. Fatal Encounters (fatalencounters.org). Row 31134. Derived from the public Fatal Encounters national dataset (coverage 2000-2021; collection ended December 2021), https://fatalencounters.org/. Retrieved July 10, 2026. ↩