Police treated for hypothermia after entering frigid water in Andover pursuit

A New York man led Andover Township police on a chase that included a downed pole and wires and foot pursuit through a swamp before he was captured Wednesday morning, the department said.

At 8:34 a.m. Wednesday, officers located a Chevy pickup truck traveling southbound along Andover-Mohawk Road that had eluded authorities in other jurisdictions, Andover Police said in a Facebook post. The driver, later identified by police as Joseph Flood, 42, of Port Jervis, New York, crashed the vehicle into a utility pole at the intersection of Roseville Road and Andover-Mohawk Road and ran into the woods as officers pursued him.

Flood entered a swampy area in an attempt to evade law enforcement, which now included the Byram Police Department and additional Andover Township officers. Several officers went through frigid waters waist- and neck-deep in order to take Flood into custody, the post read.

Upon returning to shore, Flood and the officers were brought to ambulances provided by Atlantic EMS and the Lakeland Emergency Squad and treated for hypothermia. Lakeland transported Flood and one officer to Newton Medical Center for further evaluation.

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Flood, who was wanted on several pending charges out of New York, was taken into custody following his capture, police said. The road remained closed Wednesday afternoon as crews from JCP&L repaired the snapped pole and low-hanging wires.

Other agencies who assisted at the scene included State Police, the Andover Borough Fire Department, the Sussex County Sheriff's Department, Sparta and Vernon Police, and the Sussex County, Andover Township and Byram public works departments.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Andover NJ Township police capture man after pursuit