The Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) today released video footage and radio recordings related to a fatal vehicle crash that occurred on September 28, 2025, in North Bergen, New Jersey. The civilian drivers who died during the incident were previously identified as Joseph Aziz, 20, of Jersey City, and Bryan Rivera, 24, of North Bergen.
The fatal collision is under investigation by OPIA. The recordings are being released pursuant to policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 designed to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters. Representatives of the families of Mr. Aziz and Mr. Rivera were given an opportunity to review the recordings prior to their public release.
According to the preliminary investigation, North Bergen Police Lieutenant Jason Appello was driving northbound on Tonnelle Avenue in a marked police vehicle and made a U-turn near 70th Street and Tonnelle Avenue and started to travel southbound on Tonnelle Avenue. He activated the vehicle’s emergency lights and began following a Honda Accord driven by Mr. Aziz after the Accord was allegedly involved in a traffic violation at the intersection of 69th Street and Tonnelle Avenue. Mr. Aziz fled southbound on Tonnelle Avenue at a high speed. In two separate instances, Mr. Aziz passed several vehicles in the southbound lane and drove into the northbound lanes of oncoming traffic. In the last instance, in the area of 51st Street and Tonnelle Avenue, Mr. Aziz continued driving in the oncoming lane of traffic.
At the same time, an uninvolved Toyota Corolla driven by Mr. Rivera and occupied by three passengers was travelling in the northbound lane of Tonnelle Avenue. At approximately 11:18 p.m., the Accord collided with Mr. Rivera’s Toyota Corolla on Tonnelle Avenue, between 50th and 51st streets. Mr. Aziz and Mr. Rivera were seriously injured in the collision and were later pronounced deceased. One passenger in the Accord and three passengers in the Corolla were all taken to a hospital for treatment. The investigation later determined that the Honda Accord driven by Mr. Aziz was a stolen vehicle.
The recordings are available here: https://njoag.box.com/s/8ebncmqexyrh4onesjof2knfcjzlgj53
An ongoing investigation is being conducted by OPIA into this incident, and no further information is available at this time.
A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
Further information about how fatal police encounters are investigated in New Jersey under the Independent Prosecutor Directive can be found here: https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/directives/ag-Directive-2019-4.pdf