Hitchhiker, Bad Check, Top Redding Police Blotter For Apr. 30-May 7

REDDING, CT — A hitchhiker, a bad check, and a near car burglary were at the top of the Redding police blotter last week.

On May 2, the Redding Police Department received a report of a motorist colliding with a utility pole on Umpawaug Road. Police caught up with the driver and the vehicle on Mallory Lane, near the site of the crash. The driver was injured, the pole suffered minor damage. Police contacted Frontier to ensure the integrity of the pole.

The next day, a driver lost control of his vehicle while rounding a sharp curve in the rain, according to police. The vehicle struck a stonewall in the northbound shoulder of the road, and the driver was treated for minor injuries at the scene after refusing transport to the hospital.

Police say a Woodland Drive homeowner caught two people in the act of entering his vehicle while it was parked in his driveway at 4:22 in the morning. When the driveway floodlights were activated by a motion sensor, the homeowner went outside and saw people exit his vehicle and run away to another vehicle parked on the road, according to the police report. The driver's side rear window on the homeowner's vehicle had been broken out for entry, but nothing was taken out of the vehicle.

On May 6, police ran a records check on a man they found hitchhiking along Cross Highway at 5:13 in the morning.

Police say the check on Sebastian Walsh, 31, from Pennsylvania, revealed there was an active extraditable warrant issued for him from the Northampton County, PA, Sheriff's Department, for failure to appear in court on multiple unspecified charges.

The Redding police took Walsh into their custody. On May 8, Walsh was arraigned in Danbury Superior Court, and is pending extradition by the Northampton County Sheriff.

On May 7, a Pocahontas Road resident complained to the Redding police abut receiving a bad check from a tenant who rents from him. This investigation remains open.