The Westport Police Department does a great job of informing the public about danger. If there’s an imminent threat — human, weather-related, whatever — we know about it.
But an incident last week — involving a car chase through crowded streets — received little attention. Because the WPD was an assisting agency (not the lead); because the suspects were quickly apprehended with no further danger to thepublic, and because the investigation is ongoing, there was no press release.
For witnesses though, it was quite a scene.
The incident began when the Westchester County Police Department notified the Connecticut State Police of a vehicle wanted on felony charges.
The driver evaded state troopers, but they monitored the vehicle using live traffic cameras.
Westport Police were advised that State Police lost visual contact around I-95 Exit 17.
Officers spotted it near the intersection of Bridge Street and Riverside Avenue.
Dramatic dashcam footage obtained by “06880” shows the suspect vehicle (black car, left) barrel through the red light on Riverside Avenue at Bridge Street.
After backing up and turning, the vehicle races across the Cribari Bridge.
Police pursued the vehicle across the Cribari Bridge, and onto Imperial Avenue.
On Bridge Street near Imperial Avenue, the suspect vehicle (center) weaves through — and strikes — both an oncoming police car (with lights flashing), and a motorist who had pulled to the right.
With at least one tire blown, the suspect drove dangerously on the left side of the road, before coming to a stop on Otter Trail.
The suspect drives on the wrong side of Imperial Avenue, narrowly missing an oncoming car.
He continues to drive erratically on Imperial. Pieces of the car litter the road.
The driver halts on Otter Trail …
Two occupants — a male and female — were apprehended. The male was found to be the subject of multiple active arrest warrants. One was for burglary; several were for failure to appear in court after other arrests.
… and attempts to flee. He is quickly apprehended.
The male was turned over to Connecticut State Police for arrest processing relative to the active warrants. The female was not immediately charged.
The investigation is still active. Westport Police will seek an arrest warrant for charges against the male, including evading responsibility in 2 motor vehicle accidents, and failure to stop when signaled.
If being pursued by state cops on I-95, getting off at Exit 17 is an absolutely Bad Idea™ . You will be caught by Westport’s finest, and will wind up in our delightful holding cell, next to the Ulta shoplifters.
Best and the Brightest…
I’m glad this guy was caught.
Two questions:
— were the ALPRs (like Flock) that were involved in tracking him operated by the state police, and would he have been apprehended without them?
— was this a “high speed” chase, which I thought had been curtailed in residential areas. Clearly he represented a high threat to other motorists. Are Westport police specifically trained in conducting this type of chase?
My wife and I were approaching Bridge Street on Imperial Ave as this was unfolding. We heard a loud “BANG” – which was the car being pursued striking the car on Bridge Street. With another WPD car approaching the scene (coming from compo Road South), the fleeing vehicle abruptly turned onto Imperial at very high speed – just a few feet in front of us.
The vehicle mounted the sidewalk and continued speeding up Imperial with the WPD in close pursuit. In my rear view mirror, I saw approaching traffic divert across the double yellow line to avoid a head on collision.
Additional WPD vehicles came across the bridge and continued up Bridge street toward Compo Road South
This was definitely a high speed chase and we were blessed to have not arrived at the intersection seconds sooner. It certainly took us some time to process what unfolded in front is us and how fortunate we were to avoid being hit.
As Sam Levenson describes, police pursuits are dangerous. Here’s a report from the Polce Executive Research Forum.
Quoting:
In its report, “Vehicular Pursuits: A Guide for Law Enforcement Executives on Managing the Associated Risks,” PERF recommends that a pursuit should only be initiated under two conditions:
(1) If a violent crime has already occurred and
(2) if there is an immediate risk that the suspect will commit another violent crime.
If those two conditions are not met, the PERF report recommends agencies find a different way to accomplish the same outcome.
“You can get a suspect another day, but you can’t get a life back. We believe policy, training, and supervision should all support the core value of policing: the sanctity of human life,” Executive Director Chuck Wexler wrote in the report.
You can read the recommendations here:
https://www.scribd.com/document/672337881/Vehicular-Pursuits-A-Guide-for-Law-Enforcement-Executives-on-Managing-the-Associated-Risks
He almost hit coming out of the train station parking lot, it was wild to follow (not knowing) this chase until the cops flew by me I just thought it was an a-hole drive
My wife and I were driving southbound on Imperial at around 7:15 pm in the oncoming car depicted in the second photo. It was a terrifying episode and could have ended in a head to head collision. As it was, two other vehicles were apparently hit. Luckily there were no serious injuries.
There are rules governing police conduct in this kind of situation. Section 14-283a-4 of the Conn. Regulations, entitled “Initiation of Pursuit” states “the decision to initiate a pursuit shall be based on the pursuing police officer’s conclusion that the immediate danger to the police officer and the public created by the pursuit is less than the immediate or potential danger to the public should the occupants of such vehicle remain at large.”
Among the factors an officer must take into account are (1) population density and vehicular traffic; (2) whether the identify of the occupants is known and immediate apprehension is not necessary to protect the public or police officers and apprehension at a later time is feasible; and (3) the seriousness of the offense.
Here, at least according to Dan’s post, the suspects (whose identify was apparently known to the Westchester County Police) were wanted for burglary and failure to appear in court on several warrants, neither of which (while undoubtedly serious) constitutes a crime of violence that poses a risk of danger to the public or police.
Under those circumstances, and given the lack of information that has been released about the arrested individuals or the specific nature of their crimes I am left wondering whether this high speed chase – through one of the most congested parts of Westport during peak commuting hours – was in fact necessary. I’m not assigning blame to Westchester or Westport, just saying we need more information.
Given that these types of episodes are (sadly) becoming more common, it may be time for a more robust review by the WPD and Town leadership as to the circumstances under which we should engage in such high-speed chases, especially those undertaken at the request of other agencies in relation to crimes that do not pose an immediate hazard to life or limb.
The public record of the incident can be requested from the Westport Police Department here:
https://westportpdct.requestfoia.com/