Following a pursuit, Livingston Police officers recovered a stolen vehicle. Another vehicle, which was unlocked, was stolen in town later in the week, as well.Stolen VanAt 7:50 p.m. on Wednesday, December 15, Livingston Police officers were notified of a stolen Sprinter van that was travelling west on Mt. Pleasant Avenue into Livingston. The owner of the van had followed it through West Orange into Livingston. The van had been stolen a few hours earlier in Newark, police said.Officer Anthony Trajer was able to locate the van and began to follow it with his unmarked car. When they reached Livingston Center, Officer Trajer and Officer Kevin Kitchen attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver of the van refused to stop and turned south on South Livingston Avenue. The officers continued to follow the van, which was travelling at the speed limit.In front of Town Hall, the van stopped at a traffic light and officers again tried a car stop and again the driver refused to stop, instead turning onto Robert Harp Drive. The officers continued to follow at slow speed, now north on South Livingston Avenue. The operator of the van eventually pulled into a parking lot at 171 South Livingston Avenue, where the vehicle was surrounded by Livingston Police cars.The driver refused to comply with officers’ directions to shut off the vehicle, remove his seatbelt and get out of the car. Officers had to physically remove the driver and place him in handcuffs.The driver was identified as Ismael Enrique Ortiz Sanchez, 20, from New York. He was charged with possessing a stolen motor vehicle, eluding police, and resisting arrest, along with several traffic violations. He was transported to the Essex County jail.Stolen BMWAt 3:10 p.m. on Sunday, December 19, a Pennsylvania man’s vehicle was stolen from a driveway Sunday afternoon.The man parked his 2022 BMW SUV in the driveway of a Yale Court home and went inside. When he returned, he found that the vehicle had been stolen. Video surveillance showed that a Toyota pulled into the driveway and one tall thin Black male exited the rear passenger door, entered the unlocked BMW, and drove it away. The key fob had been left in the BMW.The BMW was tracked to Newark, where it was found abandoned after crashing into multiple parked cars.
