An 18-year-old accused of driving a stolen Mercedes G-Wagon that crashed head-on into another vehicle in Atlantic County, killing two people, appeared before a judge for the first time as court records revealed the SUV had multiple encounters with police in the hours before the crash. Nayshaun Br own, of Atlantic City, appeared from jail with his arm in a sling after prosecutors accused him of driving the Mercedes involved in Saturday morning’s deadly crash on Route 50 in Mays Landing. Three juveniles were also taken into custody in connection to the crash. The Mercedes had been stolen hours earlier from the family of Blake Andreoni in Longport. “It’s one thing to get your car stolen. That sucks. But when something like that comes of it, it’s like you never prepare for something like that,” Andreoni said. Alice Stilwell, 67, and Robert Barr Jr., 54, were killed when the stolen Mercedes crashed head-on into their sedan, according to court records. Brown and three juveniles who were with him in the SUV tried to run after the crash but were caught by Hamilton Township police officers responding to the scene, court records show. Court documents say marijuana was recovered and that Brown appeared to police to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. “It’s terribly heartbreaking. Two innocent people were killed senselessly,” Longport Police Chief Ray Burgan said. Court records and sources detail several encounters between police and the Mercedes before the deadly crash. At 3:42 a.m., Longport police tried but failed to stop the Mercedes. Egg Harbor Township police also tried to stop it after encountering the SUV in a Walmart parking lot at 7:18 a.m. At 7:46 a.m., Hamilton Township police spotted the Mercedes and another SUV at a housing complex. Both vehicles took off, and police lost sight of the Mercedes. About six minutes later, police found the SUV just after it had crashed with the victims’ car. Longport police said the Mercedes was one of three higher-end vehicles stolen in town within the past week. Similar crimes have also been reported in other Jersey Shore communities. “In this town 100% of the time, key fobs are being left in the cars, unsecure,” Burgan said. The Mercedes involved in the deadly collision was stolen from a home diagonally across the street from the Longport Police Station. “I think if they can get into these vehicles, they’re not stopping for us. We will attempt to stop them, but if they take off, we have to weigh risk-worth first reward when it comes to vehicular pursuit,” Burgan said. Court records also show Brown was already facing charges in two other cases from the past two months, at least one of which involved a stolen car. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less