07/18/2025
Press Release- Eluding- Aggravated Assault on Police …
On Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 3:46 PM, the Lacey Township Police Department received a report of a Silver Hyundai Tucson bearing New Jersey Registration traveling south on Route 9 in the area of Lacey Road. The caller reported the driver was actively drinking alcohol from a bottle and swerving in and out of traffic. The caller continued to follow the vehicle, updating officers as they responded, reporting that the vehicle had struck a curb as it turned onto Beach Blvd , nearly causing several head-on collisions while traveling in the wrong lane on Beach Blvd. The caller then reported the vehicle turned around on Orlando Drive, struck the caller’s vehicle, and then fled the area at a high rate of speed toward Route 9 as officers began to flood the area. While officers were searching for the vehicle in the area, there was a report of the same vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed, passing other motorists on the shoulder of Lacey Road.
A Lacey Township Police Detective located the vehicle and conducted a motor vehicle stop in the parking lot of 1044 Lacey Road, BaCorp. While the detective attempted to make contact with the driver, the vehicle fled, colliding with detective’s vehicle. The vehicle then fled at a high rate eastbound in the westbound lane on Lacey Road, colliding with another Lacey Township patrol vehicle. The suspect vehicle continued to flee, then turned into the Barnegat Pines, where pursuit efforts were immediately terminated.
The driver of the suspect vehicle continued to operate the vehicle recklessly, without officers in pursuit. The vehicle then crossed Lacey Road into Cranbury Hill, emerged back onto Lacey Road, where Officers again attempted to stop him. The driver continued operating the vehicle at a high rate of speed, then turned onto Municipal Lane and into the parking lot of the Lacey Township Recreation Department. The vehicle nearly struck several more patrol vehicles as it went over the curb into the culvert, becoming airborne and landing back into the roadway. The vehicle then travelled at a high rate of speed through police headquarters, across Lacey Road and onto Arlington Avenue. As the pursuit was about to be terminated in the residential area, the suspect vehicle’s wheels became disabled from the collision with the culvert. The vehicle then collided with a utility pole at Arlington Avenue and Lakeside Drive North. The driver then fled on foot into the wooded area and jumped into Deerhead Lake where officers apprehended him.
The driver was identified as 33-year-old Ronald Banilov of Ridgeway Road in Manchester, NJ. Further investigation revealed he had taken the vehicle without consent and was operating while intoxicated.Banilov was charged on a warrant with 2nd Degree Eluding Police in a Motor Vehicle, Two Counts of Aggravated Assault on Law Enforcement, Resisting Arrest by Flight, Resisting Arrest, Obstruction, Five Counts of Criminal Mischief, Two Counts of Trespassing, and Taking a Motor Vehicle Without Consent. He was also issued several motor vehicle summons including but not limited to DWI, Refusal to Submit to Breath Testing, Failure to Have an Interlock Device, Driving While Suspended, Six Counts of Reckless Driving, Five Counts of Leaving the Scene of a Crash, Five Counts of Failure to Report a Crash, Three Counts of Speeding, Driving over a Sidewalk, Failure to Observe Traffic Signal, Failure to Observe Stop Sign, Failure to Keep Right, and Careless Driving.
He was also issued a Municipal Ordinance Violation for Swimming in the Lake Without a Beach Badge.
Banilov was transported to Ocean County Jail.
Released by Captain Paul Sullivan Jr #77
