Man Leads Police in Pursuit, Crashes into Orange Police Officer's SUV: Police

Correction: The story originally stated the accused was a Waterbury police officer, and that was wrong, it was a Waterbury resident, Andy Encarnacion, 25, of Central Avenue. The story has been updated.

ORANGE, CT - A Waterbury man is accused of engaging police in pursuit which led the suspect to crash his vehicle into a police officer's SUV, Orange police said.

On Tuesday at 5 p.m., an officer in an unmarked police car observed a gold colored Infinity traveling eastbound on Route 34 in the area of Route 15, with no visible registration plate and tinted windows, police said.

The officer attempted to perform a traffic stop on the vehicle, which turned onto Mapledale Road and accelerated in an effort to evade the officer, police said.

The suspect, later identified as Andy Encarnacion, 25, of Central Avenue in Waterbury, was driving at a high speed and in a reckless manner to evade the officer, who broke off the pursuit, police said. He was last seen northbound on Orange Center Road (Rte 152).

Several motorists in the area indicated they had seen the car driving recklessly and turn onto a side street. A police supervisor observed the car traveling south on Lambert Road moments later but lost sight of the car, police said.

A resident of a side street called the police and related he had seen the car speed up a dead-end road in his efforts to evade, police said.

The supervisor and additional officers converged on the area. The suspect realized the street was a dead end and drove back toward Lambert Road. As he rounded a blind curve he swerved to avoid arriving police and collided with a hedgerow and the police supervisor’s SUV, police said.

The suspect was taken into custody after a brief struggle with the assistance of a bystander, police said.

Ecarnacion faces numerous charges including engaging police in pursuit, third-degree strangulation, disorderly conduct, reckless driving, interfering with police and more.