The man who hit a police officer with a car after Naugatuck's fireworks show on Thursday admitted to hitting the officer and police are in the process of applying for an arrest warrant, police said.
The driver, who was going south on Church Street in Naugatuck, ignored a police officer who signaled for him to stop around 9:45 p.m., went through the intersection with Maple Street and almost hit pedestrians crossing the street as well as that officer, police said.
When the vehicle got stuck in traffic on the eastbound side of Maple Street near the Maple Street Bridge by Nardelli's, three more police officers confronted the driver and commanded him to stop, but he wouldn't obey police orders, police said.
Instead the man "aggressively maneuvered the car back and forward several times and jumped the sidewalk located on the bridge," police said.
"I was shocked and surprised when I heard what had happened, it's just so disrespectful to the police officers, and the community," Diane Nardelli said. "I can't believe someone would actually do something like that."
When the car went onto the sidewalk, the vehicle hit a police officer in the leg. The driver then sped east on Maple Street in the direction of May Street, police said.
The Naugatuck police officer, whose name hasn't been released, was treated at the hospital for minor leg and ankle injuries and released from the hospital. He wasn't seriously injured.
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Police interviewed the driver when he was in custody on other charges over the weekend and he confessed to driving the vehicle that hit the officer, police said.
Officers are drafting a search warrant for the car and an arrest warrant for the driver. His name has not been released.
