What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Johnny Mitchell died on November 19, 2017 in Springfield Township, Union 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 "Union 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 Springfield Township, Union County, on November 19, 2017. The address as recorded is 65 Springfield Ave Springfield Township NJ 07081 Union.

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

Johnny Mitchell

November 19, 2017 · Springfield Township, Union County

Details as recorded

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

Name as recorded: Johnny Mitchell
Age as recorded: 46
Gender as recorded: Male
Race as reported: Race unspecified
Date of the injury resulting in death: November 19, 2017
Location as recorded: Springfield Township, Union County65 Springfield Ave Springfield Township NJ 07081 Union
Highest level of force as recorded: Vehicle

Agencies as recorded

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: Union 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)

Union Township Police Department

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.

A suspected Target shoplifter, Johnny Mitchell, was killed after he tried to bite a police officer and fled in a stolen car, which burst into flames when it crashed into a medical building during the chase, police said.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2017/11/man_dies_in_crash_after_fleeing_cops.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 Johnny Mitchell died on November 19, 2017 in Springfield Township, Union 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 "Union 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 Springfield Township, Union County, on November 19, 2017. The address as recorded is 65 Springfield Ave Springfield Township NJ 07081 Union.
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 7950. Derived from the public Fatal Encounters national dataset (coverage 2000-2021; collection ended December 2021), https://fatalencounters.org/. Retrieved July 10, 2026. ↩