Wallingford police have arrested a teen accused of stealing two cars in one day, crashing into a police cruiser and hitting a fire hydrant, causing a huge geyser.
Police started investigating when they noticed a gray BMW heading the wrong way on Hall Avenue toward North Colony Road at 11:23 p.m. on Sunday, police said.
Officers tried to stop the car, but the driver backed up and hit the police cruiser, causing minor damage, then sped off, going east on Center Street, police said.
When police ran the registration through their computer system, they found that the BMW had been reported stolen from Hamden earlier in the day.
Then, the 911 calls started coming in reporting that a car had crashed at Center and North Elm streets. It was the same car, police would soon learn.
It had hit a fire hydrant, causing a massive geyser, and a crosswalk pole, but the driver was nowhere in sight and witnesses said he’d run off.
Crews from the Wallingford Water Division were called to turn off the water to the hydrant. Crews also created a temporary patch to fill the hole created by the water pressure.
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In the meantime, police searched for the driver who caused the damage and an officer noticed a different car, a blue Acura TL, leave a driveway on North Elm Street and drive the wrong way on Academy Street, police said. Police would soon find the car in a driveway on Academy Street and noted that it had fresh damage.
Then, authorities noticed a 17-year-old running through the neighborhood, so they apprehended him and identified his as the person who had been driving the BMW, police said.
Police contacted the owners of Acura TL and found out that the car had been stolen from the driveway of their North Elm Street home. The teen police took into custody had the keys on him, police said.
The juvenile was arrested and charged with second-degree larceny and two counts of third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, interfering with an officer, two counts of third-degree criminal mischief, three counts of evading responsibility, reckless driving, engaging in a pursuit, two counts of operating a motor vehicle without a license, two counts of wrong way on a one-way street and traveling too fast for conditions.
Police said no injuries were reported. The teen was held on a $100,000 bond.
