3 Ski-Mask Wearing Teens Charged After Car Theft, Chase, Crash: Police

EAST HAVEN, CT — Three ski-masked teens, who took police on a chase in a stolen car in the middle of the day Tuesday, were arrested and charged after crashing in North Branford, police said.

According to East Haven police spokesperson Capt. Joseph M. Murgo it was around 12:20 p.m. when a 911 call came in from a home visit health care worker who said her rental car was stolen from the Mill Street Apartment complex while she was checking on a patient.

Officer Tyler Pelham on patrol nearby found the car, a 2016 Chrysler 200, idling in the St. Pio parking lot, Murgo said, with the three inside.

Police, who would later learn they were teenagers, Murgo said, sped away heading eastbound on Foxon Road at a "high rate of speed" towards North Branford.

Murgo said that, "Due to the recklessness of the vehicle operator, Officer Pelham did not attempt to stop the vehicle and advised dispatch of their last known whereabouts."

A short time later, Murgo said, dispatchers told officers that the stolen car they were driving had crashed in the area of 208 Foxon Road, between the Connecticut Sportsplex entrance and a Gulf gas station. The three teens jumped out of the car and ran, he said. On foot, an East Haven police K9 track was begun, leading cops on a search into a wooded area.

Then, North Branford Police Department detectives saw the three get into a car at the dead end of Branhaven Drive, Murgo said.

Police stopped that car and took the three teens into custody, Murgo said. He noted that the driver of that car was an "elderly family member unaware of what had just taken place."

No injuries were reported as a result of the crash, Murgo said.

The three teens, two of whom are from East Haven and one from the state of Georgia, were all charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, conspiracy to commit larceny of a motor vehicle, second-degree criminal trover, reckless driving and interfering with an officer.

All three were released to guardians. They are due in Superior Court for Juvenile Matters in New Haven Wednesday.