Man in Stolen Vehicle Damages Multiple Cars in Ridgefield

A Stamford man is facing charges after police say he struck numerous vehicles on Route 35 on Sunday.

According to Ridgefield Police, officers received multiple 911 calls around 2 p.m. about a blue vehicle traveling southbound on Danbury Road in the vicinity of Haviland Road speeding past vehicles in a no passing zone.

An officer parked in a lot off Danbury Road saw the car go by and pulled out of the lot in an attempt to stop the vehicle. The officer almost immediately lost sight of the vehicle due to its excessive speed. After continuing southbound on Route 35, the officer saw numerous damaged vehicles that had been struck by the suspect vehicle, police said.

Meanwhile, headquarters continued to receive multiple calls reporting accidents caused by the suspect further up the road.

After investigating, police found that the suspect vehicle struck another vehicle traveling south on Main Street near its intersection with Pound Street and continued southbound on Main Street. The suspect vehicle then struck two more vehicles on Main Street near the intersection of Prospect Street, one traveling northbound and one traveling southbound.

The suspect vehicle continued south on Main Street striking another vehicle which was traveling northbound on Main Street in the vicinity of King Lane. The impact caused debris from the vehicle to strike another vehicle which was also traveling northbound on Main Street.

As a result of the multiple collisions the suspect vehicle became disabled near Main Street and Branchville Road, police said.

According to police, when an officer pulled up to the suspect vehicle, the suspect, identified as Mark Bogdanov Johnson, 22, of Stamford fled on foot. Johnson was located a short while later behind a residence on King Lane after he resisted arrest.

Police said Johnson has no relation to the residence on King Lane.

Johnson was operating a blue 2003 Toyota Highlander that had been reported missing out of New Canaan earlier that day, police said. A total of six vehicles, including the Toyota Highlander were damaged, however no injuries were reported.

Johnson was taken to Danbury Hospital for evaluation and released. He was charged with first-degree larceny, interfering with the duties of a police officer, assault on public safety personnel, reckless driving, evading responsibility, failure to obey the signal of an officer, failure to drive right, failure to drive in the proper lane and following too closely.

He was held on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 4.

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