What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Lou Christopher Baptiste died on May 3, 2006 in Newark, Essex 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 Newark, Essex County, on May 3, 2006. The address as recorded is South 15th Street and Madison Avenue Newark NJ 07108 Essex.

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

Lou Christopher Baptiste

May 3, 2006 · Newark, Essex County

Details as recorded

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

Name as recorded: Lou Christopher Baptiste
Age as recorded: 26
Gender as recorded: Male
Race as reported: Race unspecified
Date of the injury resulting in death: May 3, 2006
Location as recorded: Newark, Essex CountySouth 15th Street and Madison Avenue Newark NJ 07108 Essex
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.

Troopers fell in behind a green Pontiac driven by 44-year-old William Hoggard Jr., which had been reported as going to be used in a shooting. After trailing him briefly, the troopers put their siren on and attempted to pull Hoggard over, police said. Hoggard ran into The crash killed Lou Christopher Baptiste, who was riding in the passenger seat, and seriously injured his 25-year-old fiance, Kiana Carter. Also injured were two friends riding in the back seat.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dx-h8I4j1oDV5tWzFCZC4TMk18icpKtdbLGZf-zuMt4/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 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 Lou Christopher Baptiste died on May 3, 2006 in Newark, Essex 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 Newark, Essex County, on May 3, 2006. The address as recorded is South 15th Street and Madison Avenue Newark NJ 07108 Essex.
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 25079. Derived from the public Fatal Encounters national dataset (coverage 2000-2021; collection ended December 2021), https://fatalencounters.org/. Retrieved July 10, 2026. ↩