Name withheld by police

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

Name as recorded

Name withheld by police

Age as recorded

not reported

Gender as recorded

Male

Race as reported

Race unspecified

Date of the injury resulting in death

July 13, 2021

Location as recorded

Bayonne, Hudson CountyJohn F. Kennedy Boulevard and W 52nd Street Bayonne NJ 7002 Hudson

Highest level of force as recorded

Burned/Smoke inhalation

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: Bayonne 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.

Separate records, shown here so they can be found from this page. Nothing below is connected to this death. The Fatal Encounters dataset does not link the two, the Attorney General's releases do not, and neither does this site. The years each figure covers are printed for the same reason.

• Bayonne Police Department

  Reported 450 internal affairs investigations across 2021 to 2025. 10 major discipline records name officers at this agency.

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

About 11 p.m., attempted to a vehicle after allegedly seeing several motor vehicle violations. Officers reportedly activated the lights and sirens on their unmarked patrol vehicle. The driver failed to stop and continued, ultimately driving down a dead-end street, where several police vehicles blocked the vehicle. The driver failed to comply with orders by officers to exit the vehicle. He then appeared to ignite a flame. The interior of the vehicle became engulfed in flames and filled with smoke. The driver was killed.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: https://www.njoag.gov/attorney-generals-office-investigating-death-of-motorist-during-attempted-traffic-stop/ (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

A 2019 law (P.L.2019, c.1, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107) requires the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability to investigate a death during an encounter with police that occurs after the law took effect, and to present it to a grand jury. These are the Attorney General's own public releases about this death, quoted as published. The latest outcome release: The grand jury declined to bring criminal charges.

1. July 30, 2021 · Investigation announced

   Attorney General’s Office Investigating Death of Motorist During Attempted Traffic Stop

   “The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the death of a motor vehicle operator who was fatally injured after setting himself on fire when Bayonne police officers attempted to make a motor vehicle stop.”

2. October 5, 2022 · Grand jury outcome · The grand jury declined to bring criminal charges

   State Grand Jury Declines to Criminally Charge Officers Involved in Encounter in Bayonne, N.J. on July 13, 2021

   “After hearing testimony and evidence from the investigation, the grand jury concluded its deliberations on Monday, October 3, 2022, and voted “no bill” meaning the Grand Jury concluded that no charges should be filed against any officer because no officer involved caused Mr. Bikhari’s death.”