An Illegal Immigrant Fled a Targeted ICE Stop on a New Jersey Highway.
He Crashed Into the Wife of a Democratic Mayor.
On the morning of September 2, 2026, ICE agents conducted a targeted immigration enforcement stop on Route 130 in North Brunswick, New Jersey. According to ICE, the driver initially pulled over, then fled at high speed, ran a red light, and rear-ended a Tesla driven by Dr. Penelope Cohen — a physician and the wife of East Brunswick's Democratic mayor, Brad Cohen.
Dr. Cohen was treated for a leg injury at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital; her injuries were described as non-life-threatening. The driver fled on foot and was apprehended by ICE agents a short distance away. Route 130 was shut down in both directions for more than an hour.
The crash landed five months after Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation writing New Jersey's “Trust Directive” — the state policy limiting how far local police can cooperate with federal immigration authorities — into permanent statute. Her office had no comment on the crash itself when Fox News asked.
- Sept. 2, 2026 — date of the targeted ICE stop and crash on Route 130 in North Brunswick, roughly 7:30 a.m. · Source: News 12 New Jersey
- Robert Wood Johnson — the New Brunswick hospital where Dr. Penelope Cohen was treated for a leg injury, described as non-life-threatening · Source: CBS News New York
- 5 months — time between Gov. Sherrill's March 25, 2026 Trust Directive signing and the crash · Source: State of New Jersey
- 1+ hour — how long Route 130 was closed in both directions after the crash · Source: Daily Voice
- 0 — public statements from Gov. Sherrill's office on the crash itself when asked by Fox News · Source: Fox News
The stop began as a routine-looking piece of federal enforcement. ICE agents identified the driver as the target of the operation and initiated a stop at the intersection of Route 130 and Washington Place near Raider Road in North Brunswick, around 7:30 a.m. on September 2. The driver pulled over initially, according to ICE, then accelerated away, ran a red light, and struck a Tesla driven by Dr. Penelope Cohen, a physician and the wife of East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen (D).
Dr. Cohen was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she was treated for a leg injury; her injuries were described across multiple outlets as non-life-threatening. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, and was apprehended by ICE agents a short time later. The collision closed Route 130 in both directions for more than an hour while local police and ICE worked the scene.
This is a separate incident from an earlier, unrelated ICE-pursuit crash in Newark on February 26, 2026, in which driver Christian Oswaldo Guevara-Guerra injured three children and drew criticism from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D). The two cases share a pattern — a fleeing driver, a federal pursuit, a New Jersey crash — but they are not the same event, and this page covers only the North Brunswick crash.
The driver has not been publicly named in any report reviewed for this story. ICE's own account, released after the crash, says the driver “refused to exit the vehicle or comply with lawful commands from ICE officers” and that “after repeated verbal warnings and due to officer safety concerns, ICE officers relied on their training and attempted to safely remove the illegal alien” before the driver allegedly fled at high speed.
ICE says the driver “was arrested for violating U.S. immigration law, will receive due process, and will remain in custody pending removal proceedings.” That distinction matters: the driver faces federal civil immigration removal proceedings, not criminal charges from a local or county prosecutor for reckless driving or eluding police — no such charges appear in any source reviewed for this story as of publication.
Mayor Brad Cohen (D) declined further comment beyond saying he was tending to his wife, per CBS News New York. North Brunswick Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack III and township spokeswoman Michelle Greder both clarified that North Brunswick's own police department was not involved in the federal ICE operation itself — local officers responded only after the crash occurred.
New Jersey's “Trust Directive” is not new. Then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal first issued it as an AG-level policy in November 2018, limiting the circumstances under which local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration authorities. What changed this year is that it stopped being a policy an incoming administration could simply rescind.
On March 25, 2026, Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) signed A4071/S3521 and two companion bills, codifying the Trust Directive into permanent state statute. At the signing, Sherrill said the legislation showed “here in New Jersey, we still follow the Constitution and uphold the rule of law” and that the state was “protecting our communities — strengthening our protections, banning ICE agents from wearing masks, and protecting residents' privacy from federal overreach.” That statement was about the policy in general, made months before the North Brunswick crash — not a response to it.
When Fox News asked Gov. Sherrill's office for comment on the crash itself, it received none. Republican legislators were less quiet. State Sen. Mike Testa (R-NJ) put the sequence of events plainly: “This illegal alien was stopped lawfully by federal authorities, ran through a red light, fleeing federal authorities.”
Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-NJ) tied the crash directly to the state's sanctuary policy: “You kind of reap what you sow ... This is just the latest in a long line of traffic incidents and vehicular incidents that wouldn't occur if New Jersey didn't have our sanctuary status that got codified as soon as Gov. Sherrill came into office.”
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), whose district includes the crash site, framed it differently in a post reported across multiple outlets.
“Today, it appears an ICE-involved car chase resulted in an accident involving the wife of the Mayor of East Brunswick. ICE's lawlessness is putting innocent people in harm's way. #AbolishICE”
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), posted on X
The post drew criticism for framing the crash as an ICE lawlessness problem rather than as the outcome of a driver's own decision to flee a lawful federal stop, run a red light, and hit an occupied car. It is the fleeing driver, not the agents who pulled him over, whose conduct put Dr. Cohen in a hospital bed.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) — signed the Trust Directive into permanent state statute March 25, 2026; her office gave no comment on the crash when asked.
Mayor Brad Cohen (D) — East Brunswick's mayor; husband of Dr. Penelope Cohen, who was injured in the crash.
State Sen. Mike Testa (R-NJ) — said the driver was “stopped lawfully by federal authorities” before fleeing.
Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-NJ) — tied the crash to New Jersey's codified sanctuary status.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12) — represents the crash site; posted that “ICE's lawlessness is putting innocent people in harm's way.”
An illegal immigrant fled a lawful federal stop, ran a red light, and hit a car carrying a Democratic mayor's wife — five months after New Jersey's governor made it state law that local police stay out of federal immigration enforcement. The driver faces immigration removal proceedings, not local criminal charges. The governor's office had nothing to say about the crash. Her critics did.
