Thomas MacMIllan Photo
(Updated 7:48 a.m.) After smashing into two vehicles and attracting the attention of the FBI, a 15-year-old boy bailed out of the stolen car he was driving and led police on a foot chase that left one cop injured.
The incident began around 2 p.m. Thursday at Wilbur Cross High School.
A white car had been reported stolen there earlier in the day. At 2 o’clock, two officers assigned to the school noticed the car on the premises — and a 15-year-old boy behind the wheel. They approached him.
“He was a former student who was not allowed to go back into building,” said Lt. Joseph Witkowski.
The teen reacted by driving onto the sidewalk — and nearly hit the officers and students gathered there, according to a police report.
He then drove away. The cops chased after him. The teen allegedly hit a couple of cars nearby around Anderson Street..
An FBI agent happened to be in the area at the time, according to Lt. Rebecca Sweeney. He heard the crash. He followed behind the teen.
The teen drove to Whitney Avenue and Canner Street. He crashed into a tree there, then fled on foot, according to Sweeney.
Just his luck — he ran by four cops working an extra-duty job by a construction site on Prospect. The four cops joined the FBI agent in the chase and caught the kid.
At around 2:30 p.m., a dozen police officers and six cruisers were gathered on Edwards Street between Whitney Avenue and Prospect Street. The 15-year-old, in jeans and a red T‑shirt, stood against a police car in handcuffs. He was later moved to a squad car.
One officer, Arpad Tolnay (pictured below), injured his knee in the chase. He was seen at the Hospital of St. Raphael and subsequently released, Sweeney said.
The teen was charged with criminal attempt to assault a police officer, reckless endangerment, engaging cops in a pursuit, and possessing a stolen vehicle. He was held in the juvenile lock-up on Whalley Avenue. Sunday is the boy’s 16th birthday.
It was a busy Thursday afternoon for the police. The chase incident happened around the same time as an unrelated report of shots fired near Hillhouse High School, across town. The school went into lockdown mode briefly. (Story here.)
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