A Naugatuck man accused of a carjacking in Wolcott was arrested in Bristol after residents stopped him from an attempted carjacking there, according to police.
Wolcott Police Department reached out to Bristol police at 10:45 a.m. on Friday to alert them about a carjacking in their town and said the car involved, a black Nissan Rogue, was likely speeding down Route 69 toward Bristol, police said.
Bristol police noticed a vehicle matching the description on North Main Street. The driver, identified as Shawn M. Smith, 24, of Naugatuck, ran from the vehicle, which kept going and crashed into shrubbery at North Main and Curtis streets, police said.
He ran from the scene and went through backyards in the North Main Street area, with police in pursuit, police said.
When he got to Roberts Street, he tried to carjack a resident who was backing his van out of his driveway to go to work, police said.
The van driver and his wife fought Smith off, all while the car was moving, and the wife was able to reach inside the vehicle, hit the brake with her hand and avoid being run over, police said.
Smith was taken into custody on Roberts Street.
The husband and wife who police said stopped Smith received minor injuries, but refused medical attention at the scene.
Smith was charged with unreasonable speed, a stop sign violation, making an improper turn, and evading of responsibility for the motor vehicle accident at North Main and Curtis streets.
He was also charged with criminal attempt to carjack, breach of peace in the second degree, two counts of assault in the third degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
He is being held on a total of $2,600 surety bond for those charges and will be arraigned in Bristol Superior Court on Monday.
