Following Groton crash, man charged with violating protective order
Groton — Kevin Brown-Mitchell Jr. on March 4 violated a protective order, left in the protected person's 2012 red Dodge Avenger and got into a crash, according to an affidavit from Groton City police Officer Stephanie Contreras.
Brown-Mitchell, 30, of Waterbury was arrested Tuesday on a warrant, court records show. He was charged with criminal violation of protective order, third-degree criminal mischief, second-degree reckless endangerment and interfering with an officer.
According to the affidavit, three members of the City of Groton Police Department were dispatched to the area of Rainville Avenue and Poquonnock Road about 4:46 p.m. March 4, after the department received a 911 call reporting that a car had hit a large rock.
A woman on scene, 42-year-old Laree Johnson of Groton, told police she was the passenger in the heavily damaged Dodge Avenger. She was not able to explain why she was there and said she had been "drinking for two days," the affidavit stated. She was bleeding and was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital for a head injury.
Two other women who separately stopped to help at the accident said Johnson stepped out from the driver's seat and Brown-Mitchell from the passenger's seat.
Detective Sgt. Travis Winkelman confirmed that Johnson was the driver, not Brown-Mitchell. He said she hasn't been arrested and the incident still is under investigation.
Before police arrived, both witnesses said Brown-Mitchell got into the driver's seat of one of the witnesses' vehicles and attempted to flee the scene.
On arrival, police noticed Brown-Mitchell was bleeding significantly from his right hand and appeared to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, according to the affidavit. He refused medical attention and allegedly swore at the officers.
Police later determined the crash happened as Johnson and Brown-Mitchell were fleeing from the scene of a domestic disturbance at a Groton apartment.
The disturbance involved one other person, who is referred to as Victim 1 in the affidavit. The affidavit said the victim has had a protective order against Brown-Mitchell since Oct. 3, 2014.
Johnson told police that Brown-Mitchell, prior to the crash, went to a Groton home where the victim was despite the protective order. Brown-Mitchell allegedly broke a window at the home before driving off in the Dodge Avenger, which belongs to the victim.
Officers went to the home, which is not the victim's, and found "blood like" substances in the bedroom, kitchen, living room, back porch and by the parking lot. Winkelman said the blood was not the victim's and that the victim was not injured. Cellphone video footage from a neighbor confirmed Brown-Mitchell had been at the home despite the protective order against him, the affidavit stated.
Mitchell, released on a $10,000 bond, is next due in New London Superior Court on May 10.
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