No charges for officer involved in fatal 2020 Bordentown pursuit

A state grand jury declined to criminally charge a Bordentown police officer involved in a 2020 motor vehicle pursuit that ended in the death of a Trenton man.

Keron Roundtree, 23, was fatally injured the night of Oct. 27, 2020, in a crash on Route 206 after accelerating away from an attempted traffic stop by Bordentown Township Officer Keith Alexander, according to the state Office of the Attorney General.

An adult male passenger was also injured but was released from the hospital a week after the incident.

Previously:Police videos detail fatal police pursuit in Bordentown Township

Alexander was patrolling the southbound side of Route 206 in Bordentown when he saw a Nissan Maxima brake abruptly, according to an investigation by the attorney general’s office.

While stopped at a traffic light, Alexander saw the car’s temporary Pennsylvania license plate and believed it to be fake. The investigation later found that the car had been stolen from a Philadelphia apartment complex and the license plate was forged.

He then followed Roundtree for about two minutes and saw him commit several motor vehicle infractions. Around 8:51 p.m., he turned on the lights and siren of his marked police vehicle and attempted to pull Roundtree over.

Traveling more than 100 mph down Route 206 South, Roundtree attempted to swerve around other cars by driving on the shoulder but lost control and crashed into the woods. The car then traveled back out of the woods and came to a stop on the shoulder.

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Roundtree and the passenger were trapped in the totaled car. Two bystanders and Alexander removed both men from the car and rendered aid until ambulances arrived. The men were transported to a local area hospital. Roundtree remained in the hospital until his death on Nov. 17, 2020, following the removal of life support.

In January 2021, the attorney general’s office released dash- and body-cam video of the incident under policies “designed to promote the fair, impartial and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters,” according to an accompanying statement from the time.