nothin Crash, Flight — & Grab — On Grand | New Haven Independent

Crash, Flight — & Grab — On Grand

Allan Appel Photos

The other sideswiped driver fills in cops at the scene.

My thoughts of true piety” and virtue” were suddenly interrupted Monday evening when a speeding driver sideswiped my car and hightailed it away from the police.

It started out like any other evening ride home. It turned into a firsthand look at the kind of crash and stolen-car escapades cops deal with daily in New Haven.

I was coming from covering a sedate new Yale Divinity School exhibition on the founding of early theological seminaries. It’s titled The Promotion of True Piety and Virtue. I picked up my wife at her office, and we headed along Grand Avenue into Fair Haven.

At around 6:15 p.m. we were driving east along Grand near James Street traveling 25 or so miles per hour, still in the thrall of having been transported back, through paper ephemera, to the early 19th century and Timothy Dwight’s sermon on the evils of dueling. Then — out of nowhere, with a muted, scraping thud — we were sideswiped by a rapidly speeding car.

It was luckily a bump of a sideswipe, but it set my heart to beating. The offending car — small, not new, with a dark silver or black paint job — tore east going through lights along Grand. It was zooming, listing from side to side with the acceleration. My wife and I estimated — later, after we’d taken a deep breath — the car was traveling at least 50 miles per hour, scarily careening.

I think in the instant I knew there was going to be a crash.

Almost immediately police cars with lights flashing and alarms on — by my count at least six — came in pursuit from behind us west on Grand and from the other streets adjoining Grand.

I pulled over and checked the damage; not much more than some scratches on the left rear side over the tire.

You see how fast that guy was going?” I said to my wife. We were very lucky.”

And within a few blocks, we were stopped when the police, who had assembled at Grand and East, blocked the ongoing east lane and were diverting cars south on East Street.

The reason was plain to see when we arrived at the intersection: The speeding car had crashed in some fashion obliterating its right fender.

An officer on the scene said the car had been stolen and the driver, after hitting another vehicle, had fled north on East Street by foot. But not very far.

We got the guy,” reported one of the officers.

The stolen car appeared to be a Subaru, an older model.

I pulled south on East at the instruction of the officer after I’d explained our car had been slightly damaged. If I wanted the case number for insurance, I’d need to wait.

Nearby was a white Caravan damaged more seriously, with rear bumper on the left hanging, ready to fall off. The driver of that car, Nykolys Cruz, also was waiting for the case number, for insurance purposes.

He was on the phone, appeared a touch shaken or agitated. He was talking to his wife who, he said, couldn’t quite believe what he was telling her. Cruz was all right, uninjured, and he got the case number from the officer and drove on home.

I thought about the stark contrasts of the evening: Yale Divinity School exhibition: sedate, spiritual. A sideswipe from a stolen speeding car on Grand Avenue, which turned out to be nothing— for the car —but could have been fatal for others, and even for us. A matter of inches. A night in New Haven, or maybe any college town.

A Dramatic Arrest

It turns out that was one of around two dozen crashes police responded to Monday, a typical number. It also turns out an even more dramatic story involved the arrest of the suspect. Police spokesman Officer David Hartman Tuesday morning filled us in on what happened, with this written report of the incident:

Officer Thomas Glynn was traveling southbound on Dixwell Avenue in an unmarked cop car. He spotted a stolen car stopped at the traffic light at Division Street.

Glynn followed the hot Subaru as its driver made a U‑turn on the avenue and parked near Gibbs Street. Glynn parked a block away and radioed in information on the car, driver, and location.

Driving marked cruisers, Officers Steven Spofford and Christopher Boyle closed in. They switched on their emergency lights and sirens – alerting the driver of the stolen car he was being stopped.

Glynn pulled up. The car’s engine was off. The officers approached the driver. He was the only one in the car. They gave him an order to get out. That order was ignored. The driver started the car. Boyle tried the door. It was locked. He tried breaking the window with his flashlight. The flashlight was ineffective. The driver threw it into reverse and slammed into one of the marked cruisers. He then put it into drive and smashed into Glynn’s car.

Glynn radioed in that the car was on the move – south on Dixwell Avenue.”

A 20-year-old Peck Street man named Raekwon was behind the wheel. The pursuit was on.

Officer Freddy Salmeron was in Fair Haven and stopped westbound on Grand Avenue at East Street. The patrol supervisor had just ordered the pursuit terminated. As Officer Salmeron waited for the light to change, the stolen Subaru slammed into a car stopped at the same intersection, but from the opposite direction.

Officer Jeremie Elliot was stopped 50 yards behind Salmeron. Raekwon took off running. The cops took off after him. Officer Jazmin Delgado joined the short foot chase. It ended when Raekwon tripped and fell. He was handcuffed and brought to one of the cruisers.

The Subaru’s blue-book value is about twelve grand – at least before Raekwon used it in demolition derby fashion. Raekwon was arrested and charged with first-degree larceny, interfering, engaging police in a pursuit, reckless driving, two counts of criminal attempt to commit assault on a peace officer, evading responsibility and following too close.”

According to the state judicial website, Raekwon has pleaded guilty to and served time behind bars for numerous offenses in recent years, including carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal possession of weapon in a motor vehicle, possession of weapon on school grounds, evading responsibility for an injury, first-degree larceny, and violation of probation.

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