A suspected would-be car thief was busted when he ran off because he could not drive a standard, according to police.
Police responded to Sam’s Food Mart on Campbell Avenue in West Haven around 11 p.m. on Wednesday to investigate a report of a car theft in progress.
When police arrived at the shop, they obtained a description of a man who’d tried to leave in a customer’s car, but he apparently couldn’t drive a standard and ran off, police said.
Officers found Troy Matthews, 25, of West Haven, in the back parking lot of a Campbell Avenue office building, but he ran as police approached.
After a brief foot chase, Matthews was arrested and charged with larceny and interfering with police.
It was the second time he was arrested under suspicion of stealing a car this month. He was also arrested and charged on Feb. 4.
