Police: 3 injured after fleeing traffic stop, then crashing in Norwich
Norwich — Emergency crews on Sunday night had to extricate two people from a wrecked car that officers had been chasing, according to police.
In a news release, police said an officer first spotted the vehicle about 8 p.m., after its driver had committed “several motor vehicle violations.”
When the officer attempted to stop the car, police said, the driver increased speed and fled into Howard Brown Park. There, the vehicle struck the pursuing police cruiser and a parked car before heading north on Chelsea Harbor Drive and Washington Street. By that point, two other Norwich officers had begun following the car.
When the chase neared the intersection of Town and West Town streets, officers called it off because of the high rate of speed as well as traffic conditions, police said.
Not long afterward, Norwich dispatchers began receiving 911 calls reporting a crash on West Town Street near the ramp to Interstate 395 north. The wrecked vehicle, police said, was the same one that had been involved in the chase.
A driver and two passengers remained in the smashed-up car when emergency personnel arrived. An officer helped remove one of the passengers, but members of the Yantic Fire Department and American Ambulance had to extricate the driver and the other passenger.
Police said crews took all three to The William W. Backus Hospital with injuries that were serious but not life-threatening.
Police continue to investigate the crash. Any witnesses are asked to call Sgt. Thomas Lazzaro at (860) 886-5561.
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