Two arrested after stolen vehicle crashes into police cruiser, building in Waterbury
The incident unfolded last Wednesday shortly after 3:30 p.m. when authorities conducting patrols along Willow Street and Hillside Avenue spotted a stolen 2007 Honda Accord parked in a lot at 120 Hillside Ave., according to the Waterbury Police Department. The vehicle was reported stolen that morning in Bridgeport.
The Honda was spotted by the police department's Auto Theft Task Force and Vice and Intelligence Unit as well as the Connecticut Violent Crime Task Force.
Dashboard camera and body camera footage from the incident, which was released by police, shows multiple officers on foot approaching the vehicle while a cruiser parks behind it. As the driver tries to drive away a policeman breaks the passenger side window of the Honda. The driver then strikes the police cruiser and a vehicle parked in the lot.
The Honda becomes wedged in between the vehicles briefly, at which point an officer can be seen smashing the driver side window, the footage shows. The driver is able to free the Honda and continue through the lot with the police cruiser touching or following close behind.
The Honda driver then strikes the beam of a brick building and careens directly into another beam, the footage shows. The vehicle is then boxed in by the cruiser before officers take the driver and a passenger into custody.
Police identified them as 42-year-old Daniel Baker of Naugatuck and 38-year-old Janete Olivencia of Waterbury. Police said Baker was taken to an area hospital for a laceration on his face.
Officers searched the vehicle and reportedly found drug paraphernalia, according to police.
Baker was charged with reckless driving, evading responsibility, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of drug paraphernalia, second-degree criminal trover, first-degree criminal mischief, illegal possession of a controlled substance, operation of motor vehicle with a suspended license and failure to keep narcotic medication in the original container.
According to police, Baker was found to have a warrant out for his arrest from an incident in Fairfield.
Olivencia was charged with theft of a motor vehicle and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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