2 Charged In Old Saybrook Police Pursuit, Crash: Police

OLD SAYBROOK, CT — Two New York men are facing charges that they stole 1,000 gallons of cooking oil, then fled from police and caused a car crash, according to a police statement. The owner of Pizza Palace Restaurant at 1283 Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook called police at 9:38 a.m. Thursday.

He reported that he had just interrupted the theft of cooking oil at his restaurant. He provided police with a description of the vehicle that fled his parking lot. He then was able to direct police to Luigi's Restaurant at 1295 Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook where he saw the truck and the two men attempting to steal cooking oil from that restaurant, according to police.

The men fled in a Home Depot rental truck. Police encountered the fleeing truck near the Old Saybrook/Westbrook town line.

The driver ignored police requests to stop. The truck continued into Westbrook, struck another vehicle, then continued on to I-95 South.

The accident resulted in the injury of an elderly woman, who was listed in stable condition at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Police attempted to stop the fleeing truck several times. Eventually the use of stop sticks brought the truck to a stop at Exit 18 in Westport. Both people in the truck then fled on foot but were captured by state police.

Prince Gonzalez, 21, of Yonkers, NY and Leuri DeLeon Blanco, 21, of Bronx, NY were both charged with two counts each of criminal trespass, six-degree attempted larceny, and conspiracy to commit larceny. They were also charged with one count of possession of stolen property valued at over $4,000, and Gonzalez faces numerous motor vehicle charges.