New Details Emerge in Triple Fatal Accident in Danbury After Pursuit: UPDATE

DANBURY, CT — Three people died and two people were hospitalized after their car crashed on Mill Plain Road after they fled a traffic stop in Putnam County, the Putnam County Sheriff's office reports Saturday.

At about 4:20 a.m. Saturday, a Putnam County deputy sheriff was in a marked cruiser on patrol along U.S. Route 6 in Southeast, about three-quarters of a mile from the New York-Connecticut state line, Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith said in a statement.

The deputy observed a car travelling eastbound on the highway being operated erratically and swerving over the center-line of the road, Smith said in a news release.

Suspecting that the driver of the car was intoxicated, the deputy turned on his lights and siren in an attempt to pull the car over, police said. The driver did not comply, however, and continued to drive eastbound toward Connecticut, with the deputy following, initially at speeds below the posted speed limit, police said.

When the suspect’s car was about a quarter mile from the state line, it accelerated, Smith said. The deputy continued to follow the car across the state line and radioed the Sheriff’s Office headquarters to notify the Danbury Police Department to be on the lookout for the car, the news release states.

About three-quarters of a mile into Connecticut, the deputy decelerated and turned off his siren, the Putnam County Sheriff's office said.

The suspect’s car continued to accelerate away and, about 15 seconds later, it ran off the roadway and crashed into a metal utility pole at the intersection of Mill Plain Road (U.S. Route 6) and Milestone Road in Danbury, police said.

The car, a white Nissan Maxima four-door sedan, was occupied by five persons, including a male driver, two male passengers and two female passengers, police said.

The driver and male passengers were killed upon impact, police said. The two females were injured, and first-aid was administered to them by the deputy, with help from passers-by, police said.

The women were transported to Danbury Hospital with injuries to their extremities that are not believed to be life-threatening. The identities of the victims have not been released.

The sheriff’s deputy was not physically injured in the incident. He was taken to Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel for observation and then released.

The Danbury Police Department is investigating the crash. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an internal review of the events preceding it.

A preliminary review indicates that the deputy followed the suspect’s car for about 1½ minutes over a distance of about 1½ miles, during which the average speed of the deputy’s cruiser was clocked at slightly less than 65 miles per hour, with top speeds of over 80 miles per hour sustained for about 15 seconds, police said. The crash speed of the other car has not yet been determined.

We'll continue to update this breaking news story.

ORIGINAL POST

DANBURY, CT — Mayor Mark Boughton says three people died in an accident on Mill Plain Road early Saturday.

The Mayor said a pursuit began in New York and moved into Danbury. He said there were five people in the car and three died. The car did have a Connecticut license plate. No identities have yet been released.

Boughton stresses that the Putnam County Sheriff was breaking off the pursuit. He said the car still continued into Connecticut at a high rate of speed. The pursuing Sheriff is ok, Boughton said, and was taken to the hospital for observation. No information has been released as of yet concerning why the sheriff's office was pursuing the vehicle.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for more updates.