Car Stolen In Westport Involved In Crash In West Haven: PD

WESTPORT, CT — A car stolen in Westport Wednesday morning was crashed by the suspects in West Haven, and before he was apprehended by police, one of the suspects jumped into a West Haven police vehicle, struck officers with it and crashed it through a cemetery fence.

Two West Haven police officers suffered injuries in the incident, but those injuries were not considered to be a threat to life, according to authorities.

The incident began at about 9 a.m. at the Exxon gas station at 1510 Post Road East in Westport. A woman was pumping gas into her BMW when a person jumped into the driver's seat of the running car and sped off. The woman was not injured in the incident, according to Westport police.

Using GPS technology, police were able to track the BMW to the greater New Haven area, and then ultimately to West Haven about two hours later.

West Haven police tried to pull over the car over, but the driver tried to elude authorities before finally crashing into several vehicles in traffic. By this time, there were two occupants in the stolen car.

"The operator fled on foot and officers gave chase," West Haven Police Sgt. Patrick Buturla said in a statement. "While the second occupant of the stolen vehicle was being apprehended, the operator returned and entered a West Haven Police Department patrol vehicle. The individual reversed the patrol vehicle subsequently striking several Officers. As the operator accelerated the vehicle forward, he narrowly missed running over one of the responding officers who took an evasive maneuver allowing him to escape serious physical injury or worse.

"The vehicle proceeded to drive through a fence at the Oak Grove cemetery and ultimately it became disabled. He then attempted to flee on foot and was subsequently stopped and arrested by officers. Both individuals arrested are confirmed to be juveniles. Two officers have been transported to an area hospital for medical evaluation and are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries."

Video of a portion of the wild scene in West Haven was recorded by a bystander and circulated on social media.

— Vincent Salzo, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.