Stonington — The off-duty police officer who fired a shot at a stolen car carrying three suspects on Downer Street in Pawcatuck on Monday afternoon has been identified as veteran Westerly Police Lt. Steven Johnson.

Westerly police Chief Richard Silva confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the officer was Johnson. He said Johnson remains on full-time active-duty status and that Westerly police will be conducting their own internal review of the incident, which is prompted by any use-of-force incident.

Stonington police, with assistance from the New London State’s Attorney's Office, which normally is involved when an officer discharges his or her weapon, continue to investigate the incident and have not released any other details beyond those it released Monday night. Stonington police have only said the off-duty officer who fired the shot was not a member of their department. Stonington Capt. Todd Olson said Wednesday his department may be able to provide more details later this week.

On Monday at 2:34 p.m., Stonington officers responded to a call that a Nissan Rogue stolen out of Rhode Island was parked and occupied on Downer Street in Pawcatuck.

That’s when Johnson, who owns a home on the street, according to town records, approached the driver of the stolen SUV, Jonathan R. Ilarraza, 26, of North Kingstown, R.I. Police say Ilarraza then tried to drive away. Johnson then fired a gun and struck the vehicle.

Ilarraza then drove east on Downer Street and lost control of the SUV when he turned south on Garden Street and hit a concrete wall, police said. Ilarraza and a passenger, Robert W. Abercrombie, 48, of Providence, then ran away from the crash. This prompted police to issue an alert for nearby residents to shelter in place because the men could be armed.

After searching the area, police took both men into custody, as well as another passenger, Jan Poirier, 24, of no certain address, who had remained at the crash scene. No one was injured in the incidents.

Ilarraza was charged with first-degree larceny, evading responsibility, failure to drive right and driving in violation of license classification. Abercrombie was charged with breach of peace and interfering with a police officer, and Poirier was charged with threatening.

None of the three was charged with any weapons violations or trying to injure Johnson.

Ilarraza is being held on a $50,000 bond after being arraigned in New London Superior Court on Tuesday. Abercrombie is being held on a $20,000 bond and Poirier a $10,000 bond. All three are scheduled to appear in court June 11.

In 2014, Johnson sent an email to then Stonington First Selectman Edward Haberek criticizing the Stonington Police Department for what he called a lack of drug enforcement efforts in downtown Pawcatuck.

When his email was reported, he said the media had sensationalized it and told the Board of Police Commissioners he has “the utmost respect for the men and women of the Stonington Police Department” but wanted to ensure that they have the proper resources to address the problem of illegal drugs.

Stonington police defended their efforts, pointing to the arrests they had made to crack down on drug dealing.

j.wojtas@theday.com