Man Arrested On Warrants, Driver Flees In Stolen Car: North Haven PD

NORTH HAVEN, CT — Police are obtaining arrest warrants for a driver and a passenger who fled in a stolen car while another man was being taken into custody on outstanding arrest warrants Wednesday afternoon in North Haven, according to officials.

Police said the man was identified through the investigation into a suspicious person and hit-and-run crash incident in the Old Orchard Road and Crestview Drive area on Tuesday night.

Eric Garcia, 40, was arrested on outstanding warrants that were unrelated to the Crestview Drive case, according to police.

Police said he is considered a “person of interest,” and the investigation is ongoing.

“During Garcia’s arrest, the driver of the vehicle he exited from sped off while an officer was still holding the car door,” police wrote in a post on Facebook. “The vehicle, later confirmed to be stolen, fled toward New Haven and struck another vehicle near Sackett Point Road and Universal Drive. No injuries were reported in that crash. The vehicle then crashed at the end of I-91 Exit 7 in New Haven, where the driver and a female passenger ran from the scene. North Haven and State Police K-9 teams searched the area but did not locate them.”

Police said North Haven detectives have taken over the case and have obtained search warrants for the recovered vehicle.

“To the driver and the female passenger who fled from our officers on Wednesday: we know who you are,” police wrote. “Detectives have identified you both, and warrants for your arrest are being sought. You put our officers, and the public, at serious risk. You fled in a stolen car through two towns, crashed into an innocent driver, and ran after crashing again. That will not be tolerated in this town. You can turn yourselves in at the North Haven Police Department, 8 Linsley Street, or we will come find you. You will be arrested. The only choice you have left is how.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the North Haven Police Department at 203-239-1618 and reference case 26-33533.