Two motorcycle riders were arrested in separate Clifton incidents two days apart after police said they tried to evade officers. The cases involved a crash into a vehicle stopped at a traffic light and a foot pursuit through a supermarket parking lot.
The first incident began around 10:14 p.m. on Monday, September 7, when Clifton police officers Benjamin Bressel and Stephen Aggi encountered motorcycles near Crooks and Getty avenues, according to DailyVoice.com. Clifton Police D/Lt. Robert Anderson told the outlet that the motorcycles had no visible license plates and were passing vehicles as officers attempted a traffic stop. The riders accelerated, police said, and one, 39-year-old Joel Cuadra of Paterson, crashed a 2024 TransPro into a vehicle stopped at a traffic light.
Cuadra was arrested after telling officers he was not injured, per police. He was charged with eluding and refusing to be fingerprinted, and authorities said he had an active arrest warrant from another jurisdiction. He also refused to cooperate with the booking process, according to the same report.
A Lengthy Court History
The report also described Cuadra as having an extensive New Jersey court and traffic-record history. It said he faced theft charges in Elmwood Park and Englewood Cliffs in May 2025 and several motor-vehicle-related charges in Hawthorne this year.
The other rider involved in the September 7 incident, an adult man from Paterson, received motor vehicle summonses and was released because he did not flee from police, the report states. Cuadra, meanwhile, was taken to the Passaic County Sheriff's Office corrections hub pending his first appearance in central judicial processing court. The Passaic County Sheriff's Office page describes transfers and short-term stays and lists Bergen County Jail and Hudson County Correctional Center.
Second Rider Tackled Near Lakeview Avenue
The second incident occurred around 7:36 p.m. on September 9, when Bressel and Aggi encountered another group of riders near Lakeview and Clifton avenues. Officers approached two riders in the Aldi supermarket parking lot, and one of them, 23-year-old Jasiel Silverio-Pujols of Paterson, fled on foot through the lot toward Lakeview Avenue, per the report. Silverio-Pujols tried unsuccessfully to board another motorcycle as a passenger before Bressel tackled him near Clifton and Lakeview avenues.
Silverio-Pujols was charged with resisting arrest by flight, obstruction of justice, endangering the welfare of another, and interfering with transportation. He received several motor vehicle summonses and was processed at police headquarters before being released with a summons to appear in Superior Court. Aggi detained the other rider involved in the stop, who received motor vehicle summonses as well.
The incidents in a broader traffic-safety context
The Daily Voice report said police observed dirt bikes and mopeds running red lights, traveling against traffic and committing other violations during the encounters. It also said many riders were not wearing helmets. The incidents involved unplated dirt bikes, mopeds and motorbikes in Clifton and Paterson, where the legality of operating such vehicles on public roads depends on their design, registration and required safety compliance.
When can an off-road bike use public roads?
According to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, motorcycles operated in the state must be titled, registered and insured. The commission defines a dirt bike as a two-wheeled motorcycle designed and manufactured for off-road use only that does not comply with federal vehicle-safety or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on-road emissions standards. New Jersey also amended its impoundment rules for dirt bikes and other specified vehicles operated unlawfully on public streets, highways or rights-of-way through P.L. 2023, Chapter 135, approved August 7, 2023, according to the New Jersey Legislature. Along the corridor where officers encountered riders, a Passaic County and North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority project proposes a road diet, buffered bicycle lanes, signal upgrades, a roundabout, enhanced bus stops and curb extensions on Lakeview Avenue from Crooks Avenue to Market Street, according to the project website.
The incidents involved unplated dirt bikes, mopeds, and motorbikes in Clifton and Paterson. Hoodline previously reported on shots fired near Union Avenue in Paterson in an incident on August 30, when officers pursued two dirt bike riders; the report said the connection between the chase and a nearby scooter robbery was unclear. That report noted Paterson enacted a municipal ordinance in September 2022 banning ATVs, dirt bikes, minibikes, and snowmobiles from city streets and public property, with fines up to $2,000, followed by a November 2022 ordinance barring gas stations from fueling illegal off-road vehicles.
Legal Stakes for Riders Who Flee
Under N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2, eluding a police officer in a motor vehicle is a third-degree crime carrying three to five years in prison, but it escalates to a second-degree crime punishable by five to 10 years in prison and fines up to $150,000 if the flight creates a risk of death or serious bodily injury. Off-road vehicles operated illegally on public streets are also subject to mandatory police impoundment under N.J.S.A. 39:3C-35, since standard dirt bikes lack required street-legal equipment like turn signals and headlights.
New Jersey's vehicular pursuit policy, under Attorney General Directive 2022-4, strictly limits high-speed police chases to cases involving specified violent crimes or immediate severe public safety risks, requiring continuous risk evaluation and supervisor authorization. That framework helps explain why Clifton officers relied on foot pursuits and post-crash arrests rather than prolonged high-speed chases in both incidents. Statewide, motorcyclist fatalities dropped roughly 40 percent in 2025 to 72 deaths, down from a historic high of 120 in 2024, according to WRNJ Radio, citing preliminary data released by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.
