CT man arrested after allegedly fleeing vehicle with fentanyl inside, escaping through drain pipe

Yahoo

17-04-2025

A Manchester man faces charges for allegedly leading a state trooper on a pursuit in Vernon in February which ended when his engine blew and he reportedly took off into a wooded area before escaping by crawling through a drain pipe.
Troopers obtained an arrest warrant for Jaylenn Baez, 29, after a K-9 found a stolen firearm in the area where police believe he escaped and later discovered more than 60 grams of suspected fentanyl in the vehicle that was abandoned, according to Connecticut State Police.
Baez was arrested Sunday by officers with the Wethersfield Police Department who found that state police had a warrant out for him. He was turned over to troopers and charged with illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, interfering with an officer, stealing a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving, disobeying the signal of an officer, engaging police in pursuit, violation of traffic control signals, misuse of registration plate and violation of display of registration plates.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, a trooper patrolling an area of Vernon reportedly known for criminal activity spotted a black Infiniti being driven off of Interstate 84 and onto Route 31 on Feb. 21 around 10:40 p.m. The vehicle had tinted windows and a tinted cover on its license plate.
The trooper followed the driver until the vehicle pulled into a gas station where he found that the license plate belonged to a Nissan, the warrant affidavit said. Noting that misused plates are sometimes used during narcotics trafficking, the trooper pulled over and believed the Infiniti driver was conducting counter surveillance on him. The Infiniti driver after about 30 seconds left the gas station and made a left turn where only right turns were permitted, state police wrote.
The trooper followed and noticed the driver partially crossed the yellow center lines, at which point he tried to pull the vehicle over, the warrant affidavit said. The driver slowed down and pulled through a parking lot before changing directions and heading north on Route 30 back toward the intersection with Route 31. The Infiniti then blew through a red light at the intersection.
The trooper pursued the vehicle as it headed toward Interstate 84 and saw the driver swerve around other vehicles and go through another red light to get onto I-84 West, the warrant affidavit said. The trooper stopped pursuing the vehicle after seeing smoke coming from its engine and last spotted it in the area of Exit 66.
A trooper up ahead spotted the vehicle near Exit 65 where it was smoking heavily, according to the warrant affidavit. The driver pulled into the right shoulder when the trooper flipped on his lights and sirens and fled the Infiniti on foot before police could approach the vehicle, the warrant affidavit said.
The man ran into a wooded area and was pursued by a trooper who deployed a K-9. The trooper slipped and fell on ice before losing sight of the dog and the suspect. The K-9 led police to a fence where it was believed the suspect climbed over and kept running.
The dog later led police on a track to an area with multiple drainage pipes where one of them was uncovered, the warrant affidavit said. The animal then alerted a trooper to a handgun on the ground, which was later found to be loaded and reported stolen from Hartford, according to the warrant affidavit.
Troopers began shouting into the drainage pipe and could hear someone faintly responding. State police said it sounded as though the suspect was saying he had gotten stuck a couple hundred feet into the pipe. The individual stopped responding after a few minutes.
About two hours later, police found that the pipe led to a pond near the Shoppes at Buckland Hills in Manchester, according to the warrant affidavit. There, they found fresh footprints leading to the area of a business where an employee told troopers a man matching the description of the suspect had come in about 30 to 45 minutes earlier, the warrant affidavit said. Police searched for the man but could not find him.
State police had the Infiniti towed and, while looking for the vehicle identification number, saw wax paper bundles that were suspected to contain fentanyl, according to the warrant affidavit. They also found a paper inside with Baez's name on it, state police wrote.
Troopers found that Baez was on probation and that his criminal history included charges of stealing a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, sale of narcotics and possession with intent to sell, among others, the warrant affidavit said. Using surveillance footage from the business where troopers believe the suspect went upon crawling out of the storm drain, police claimed that they were able to identify the individual as Baez, according to the warrant affidavit. The footage showed the individual left the area after being picked up by a motorist.
Inside the Infiniti, police later allegedly found bags containing about 61 grams of suspected fentanyl, a scale with suspected fentanyl residue on it, multiple license plates and multiple cell phones, the warrant affidavit said.
Investigators later obtained a warrant for Baez's arrest. When he was taken into custody, he was also charged with failure to appear in connection with a pending criminal case, state police said.
Baez was held on a $750,000 bond and was expected to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Monday.