State officials have reacted with dismay to allegations that the New Jersey State Police led a high-speed caravan of sports cars to Atlantic City last month without regard for the safety of other drivers, and they have promised swift action against those involved.

But it apparently wasn’t the first time it has happened.

The State Police escorted another caravan of luxury sports cars down the Garden State Parkway in 2010 at speeds reportedly up to 120 mph, and it was all captured by two young men who happened upon the procession and then posted a harrowing video to YouTube.

"Get the camera out. They’re being escorted by the New Jersey State Police!" one of the men, whose identities are unknown, said as they encountered the caravan. "We’re being escorted by State Police. Oh my god. Timing is perfect ... The State Police are cruising!"

The caravan, captured in five videos posted to the website June 28, 2010, was led by marked State Police cruiser #193 with its emergency lights flashing. Many of the cars in the caravan can be heard revving their engines and seen bursting forward at high speeds in and out and heavy traffic.

A spokesman for the State Police, Lt. Stephen Jones, did not immediately return a call and e-mail seeking comment on the escort and whether or not it was authorized.

At an unrelated news conference in Atlantic City, Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said, "I’m not aware of any information right now of any other instances."

The identities of the drivers in the sports car were not evident from the videos, though several of the cars had New York license plates. A caption on the video says they were headed to the 3rd Annual Hamilton Jewelers/Ferrari Rally in Red Bank.

The chaotic videos shows how the two men joined the caravan in their Mitsubishi Evolution VIII and then struggled to keep up. The cars zipped past the rest of traffic in the left lane, but also occasionally hit the gas to burst past each other on the right.

"Oh My... New Jersey State Police protected," one man said. "The State Police is cruising. The New Jersey State Police ... we can’t keep up! This is the highlight of my life."
death-race-screengrab.jpgYouTube user V1SAVEDA screenshot from the video, reportedly showing State Police leading a high-speed caravan of luxury cars down the Parkway in 2010.

They went on, "Doing 100, doing 100! It’s the New Jersey State Police. In the Evolution VIII cruising and we can’t keep up. This is the highlight of my life. We’re doing 110. 110."

Their speedometer topped at 120 mph, they said in one of the videos. The speedometer was also visible in the video.

"The Parkway is getting owned!"

At two points during the trip, the men filmed troopers apparently not involved in the caravan pulling over other drivers.

"That poor girl’s probably like, ‘What the hell?’" one of the men said.

At another point, the men driving almost rear-ended the car in front of them.

Several calls to Hamilton Jewelers and Ferrari/Maserati of Central Jersey, the two groups that organize the annual rally, went unanswered today. But in a video from the 2010 rally posted to YouTube, the president of the car dealership, Thomas Heffernan, describes the rally as a charity event and suggests the State Police were officially involved in the Parkway caravan.

"Our clients love to use their cars and this is a great way to use the cars because we enable them to do a rally," Heffernan said in the video. "We start at the top of the Garden State Parkway and travel approximately 75 miles with state trooper guidance. Then we end up in Red Bank."

The video cuts to several shots of cars traveling down the Parkway behind a State Police patrol car with its emergency lights flashing lights. The video is from the same 2010 rally shown earlier in a series of YouTube clips made public today by The Star-Ledger.

Jones, the spokesman for the State Police, told the Sunday Star-Ledger last week that escorts are allowed only on very rare occasions for events such as services for a fallen serviceman or other high-profile funerals that require traffic control, and they are requested through the chain of command and approved by top brass.

The emergence of the rally videos comes as the State Police and the state Attorney General’s Office are investigating complaints that two troopers escorted a caravan of luxury sports cars at speeds in excess of 100 mph down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City last month.

The occupants included former Giants running back and sports car enthusiast Brandon Jacobs, according to a source with knowledge of the trip.

In the complaints, obtained by The Star-Ledger, witnesses said that in the early afternoon of March 30, they saw two State Police patrol cars with their emergency lights flashing driving in front of and behind the southbound caravan, which included dozens of Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other vehicles, all with their license plates covered with tape.

Officials have condemned the allegations and promised swift action.

A spokeswoman for Chiesa tried to stop reporters from asking about the caravan at his event in Atlantic City, but he did say, "We’re obviously going to do a full review and investigation of this to find out who was involved and how it happened and to address it." He refused to answer other questions, repeating that the matter is under review.

Staff writers James Queally and Megan DeMarco contributed to this report.