New Haven police have arrested a 16-year-old boy accused of driving drunk and crashing into an outdoor dining area of a restaurant in June, injuring two people.
Police arrested the teen at his home in West Haven on Wednesday. His name has not been released.
The crash happened early on the morning of Sunday, June 3, police said.
An officer was at Chapel and State streets when he heard screaming.
He went to investigate and a woman yelled that someone had stolen her car.
When the officer chased the car, the driver sped up and tried to turn on to Clark Street, but missed the street and drove through the outdoor dining area of Christopher Martin's restaurant at 860 State Street, police said.
Two customers dove out of the way as the car hit the building, police said.
Three nurses were at the restaurant. One tended to a man who had a cut on his face and the others helped a man whose leg was injured leg.
EMTs responded and took the man with the leg injury to the hospital.
Police took the teenage driver into custody. He wasn't injured but smelled of alcohol and was sent to the hospital, police said.
Police spoke with the woman who reported her car stolen and she told them she'd been with the teen at a nightclub on Chapel Street and he’d consumed eight mixed drinks, got into a fight and then took off in the car that the woman’s father had rented, police said.
A few weeks later, police submitted a search warrant for the teen's medical records and applied for an arrest warrant when the results showed that the teen's serum alcohol level was over the limit for a person under the age of 21.
The teen was charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree, larceny in the second degree, criminal mischief in the third degree, two counts of attempted assault in the second degree with a motor vehicle, two counts of assault in the third degree, driving under the influence, reckless driving, increasing speed to elude police, failing to obey an officer's signal and driving in violation of a learners permit.
