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Three Arrested After Stolen Vehicle Crashes In Monroe

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 | Updated 8:00 PM EST

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Milford Police nab three suspects after they crashed a stolen vehicle.

Car thefts in two towns led to a police pursuit, a crash and a foot chase Wednesday morning, and ended with three suspects under arrest, Monroe Police said.

Monroe officers were dispatched to assist Newtown Police with a stolen vehicle complaint around 3:00 a.m. Newtown Police were searching for a Mercedes Benz stolen out of New Haven occupied by three male suspects. The suspects abandoned the vehicle on Route 25 in Newtown after it became disabled.

Around 5:00 a.m. a Monroe officer spotted a green Ford minivan backed up to the doors of a body shop of Route 25. He saw three men matching the description of the suspects in the stolen Mercedes case get into the van and start to drive away. When the driver saw the Milford police cruiser he took off speeding.

Milford Police tried to pull over the minivan but the driver refused to stop and a brief chase ensued. The minivan then crashed into a Dodge pickup truck at the intersection of Route 25 and Purdy Hill Road, and ended up in the parking lot of the Duchess Restaurant. That is when the foot chase began.

"The occupants of the vehicle bailed out. They took off into the woods, we called our dogs, our officers in. They began to track," Monroe Lt. Brian McCauley said.

Police caught up with one of the suspects shortly after the crash. The other two suspects were caught about three hours later, one of them hiding in the water. Monroe Police said he was taken to the hospital after sitting in the frigid water.

The driver of the pickup truck the minivan crashed into was not hurt. Rush hour traffic was held up when police closed a section of Route 25.

Monroe Police have not released the names of the suspects left and are continuing their investigation.