Hartford Man Threatened Motorists, Dumped Car In Southington: Police

SOUTHINGTON/HARTFORD/WATERBURY, CT — State police have charged a Hartford man following a series of road rage incidents Tuesday in Waterbury and a subsequent Southington manhunt.

According to Connecticut State Police, Robert Misericordia, 27, of Hartford, was charged with misuse of registration plate; illegal operation of a motor vehicle without minimum insurance; reckless driving; disobeying the signal of an officer; driving the wrong way on a divided highway; first-degree criminal mischief; interfering with an officer/resisting arrest; second-degree breach of peace; and first-degree threatening.

Police said Misericordia turned himself in to state police at Troop A in Southbury at 1 p.m. Wednesday following a warrant being issued for his arrest.

Misericordia was held on a $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Waterbury Superior Court on Thursday, Feb. 13.

According to state police, the warrant stemmed from an investigation Tuesday into several road rage incidents on Interstate 84 in Waterbury.

Police said troopers Tuesday located Misericordia's vehicle on a dead-end cul-de-sac in the town of Prospect, to which Misericordia struck a state police cruiser to evade capture.

Misericordia's vehicle was later found abandoned at a rest area off I-84 in Southington, but police Tuesday were unable to locate a suspect.

Police said Misericordia admitted to his involvement in this series of incidents and is cooperating with the investigation.

As a result, Misericordia was taken into custody without incident, police said.

I-84 incidents detailed

Court documents released Wednesday show a chaotic scene on Interstate 84 from Waterbury to Southington.

Those documents revealed that different witnesses reported Misericordia, in separate incidents, kicked one vehicle, charged another with a machete, and then pointed a gun at another motorist.

According to the affidavit for Misericordia's arrest, he was operating an orange Honda Civic on Tuesday.

It was reported by the first witness that he got into a road rage incident on I-84 near Exit 17 in Waterbury, court papers state.

The witness reported that Misericordia got out of his Honda and began kicking the witness' car, reads the affidavit.

Afterward, on I-84 West near Exit 18, a second witness said a man in the same vehicle stopped in front of another vehicle, exited the car, and rushed the vehicle wielding a machete, reads the affidavit.

Later in the morning, a third complainant reported that a Civic with a suspect bearing Misericordia's description was traveling on I-84 East and ended up next to another car, according to court documents.

According to the affidavit, Misericordia rolled down his window, pointed a gun — described as a black handgun — and yelled "I'll (expletive) kill you."

Witnesses described the suspect as being a white, adult male, clean-shaven with dark-colored hair and wearing a blue T-shirt with an American flag depicted on the front.

Misericordia's Civic then engaged state police in pursuit in Prospect, with Cheshire, Southington, and state police observing erratic driving, the affidavit states.

Police said Misericordia was seen driving 90-100 miles per hour in "well-populated areas" and then continued onto I-84, with police losing sight of him.

State police eventually found Misericordia's vehicle at a Southington rest area off I-84, resulting in a manhunt for much of the day in that town, one that briefly had local schools on alert.

Police said in the affidavit they found a machete in the front passenger seat of the Civic.

Investigators were able to track Misericordia by reviewing his cell phone data, which showed he was "pinging" at all of the locations reporting road rage incidents, the affidavit reads.

Police were able to contact Misericordia via phone and, when he stopped cooperating with police, a warrant was drafted for his arrest, police said in the affidavit.

For more information on the incident, including video footage of part of the police pursuit, click on this link.

From Feb. 11: 'No Gunman Found In Southington, Road Rage Probed: Reports: UPDATE'