NEWINGTON, Conn. (WTIC Radio) - Newington police officers engaged in a pursuit three times with a suspected stolen vehicle Wednesday morning before authorities were able to stop the vehicle.
Officers assigned to a CT Office of Policy Management Grant to combat stolen vehicle thefts tried to stop a blue Mitsubishi Lancer at 2:13 a.m. and again at 3:45 a.m.
According to police, the vehicle engaged the officers in pursuit each time. Officers stopped the pursuit, they said, because the pursuit did not fall within the state's pursuit policy.
However, officers encountered the vehicle again at around 4:41 a.m. around Fenn Road in Newington.
Earlier at 4:36, police said they received information that the suspect vehicle was involved in two recent shooting incidents in Vernon and in New Britain.
When the driver of the suspect vehicle engaged officers in pursuit again at 4:41 a.m., police said the officers pursued it due to the new information of the shootings.
Connecticut State Police troopers joined in the pursuit which went onto the Berlin Turnpike toward I-84 westbound.
Along I-84, Newington officers said they saw an item thrown out of the suspect vehicle. They later recovered a hand gun alongside the roadway which, officers said, was believed to be the item thrown from the vehicle.
The vehicle eventually came to a stop when the pursuit approached the state border and Massachusetts State Troopers deployed stop sticks to render the vehicle inoperable.
Massachusetts police took the driver, an adult male, into custody. No injuries were reported.
The investigation is ongoing. Newington police said charges are expected out of Connecticut.