A minor has died after the stolen vehicle they were in crashed into a house in Wethersfield on Sunday afternoon, according to police.
Officers were called to Church Street after getting a report of a car that had collided with a home.
When police arrived, they said they found two minors trapped in the vehicle. A third minor fled the scene on foot and eventually returned.
The two minors who were trapped in the vehicle were extricated. Police said one of those minors was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The person's age and identity have not been released.
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Investigators said the vehicle was stolen out of Hartford and was occupied by three minors.
The stolen vehicle is believed to have been driving erratically east on Church Street toward Garden Street before hitting another vehicle going westbound. It's unclear if anyone in that vehicle was injured.
After the collision, authorities believe the stolen vehicle veered off of the road, hit a tree and then the home.
Local
Billy Choi was working in his backyard with a friend when he heard the crash and came out to find the car on his lawn.
“Right when we got inside, we heard two bangs. The first one was from when the car struck the tree, and the second one shook the entire house,” Choi said. “The sound sounded like a car crash, so I kind of went running outside, and me and him both turned the corner and saw the car wrecked.”
He said other neighbors ran outside at the sound.
“We saw that there was a kid in the back, and we were like, we gotta get the kid out. We were able to pull one of the kids out, and then the other two were pinned in there. It was pretty brutal,” he added.
The minor he helped walked away from the scene, he said.
“When we pulled the kid out, he kind of started walking away, so I chased after him. [I] probably shouldn’t have. But I ran after the kid, I’m the one who brought him back,” Choi explained. “When he eventually returned, he was just like, ‘I need help.’ I was like, I can get you help but we gotta get back to the scene.”
Police haven’t yet identified the youth involved or said if they’re facing any charges.
The accident reconstruction team is investigating the crash.
Choi said things could have been worse as the neighborhood, not far from historic Main Street, is busy with pedestrians.
“We were all saying it was pretty good that it was cold out and no one was walking because it’s a pretty active neighborhood. Downtown is pretty bustling, and we do get a bunch of walkers here, and it was in the middle of the day. It was good that no one was out walking.”
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