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    Saturday, November 09, 2024

    Police: Man arrested after crashing into trooper, high-speed pursuit in Colchester

    COLCHESTER — A Killingworth man is facing drug, traffic and other charges for slamming into a police cruiser and fighting with troopers after leading them on a high-speed pursuit along a state highway, officials said.

    Zachary Whitehead, 34, was arrested early Friday after troopers subdued him on Old Hartford Road, according to a news release from the Connecticut State Police.

    The chase began around 1:30 a.m. when a trooper based in Hartford responded to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Highway in Glastonbury for a report of a vehicle stopped in the left lane, police said.

    When the officer arrived, the vehicle, a silver Cadillac DeVille, accelerated at high speed through a construction zone, leading other troopers to respond and attempt to stop the car, police said.

    Police said the driver, later identified as Whitehead, raced east along the highway, which is also known as state Route 2, for several miles before continuing onto Old Hartford Road in Colchester.

    Officials said a trooper attempted to box in Whitehead's vehicle with their cruiser, but Whitehead intentionally struck the police vehicle to prevent being stopped. The collision, however, caused both cars to become disabled, leading Whitehead to flee on foot.

    Police said Whitehead tried to fight the trooper to prevent the officer from taking him into custody, but other law enforcement officials arrived and helped place him in handcuffs.

    Officials said troopers located drug paraphernalia and narcotics on Whitehead while searching him and observed several narcotics in plain view inside the Cadillac. They ultimately seized "a substantial amount" of drugs from the vehicle, as well as packing material, cutting agents, and a scale. Police determined Whitehead was showing signs of impairment.

    Whitehead was charged with drug offenses, including the use of drug paraphernalia, possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, operating a drug factory, sale of heroin or methadone, illegal possession of prescription drugs and sale of a hallucinogenic substance, police said.

    Officials said he also was charged with interfering with an officer, assault on public safety officer, reckless endangerment, first-degree criminal mischief, failure to obey stop sign, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, failure to drive in proper lane, illegal operation of a motor vehicle with a suspended license, illegal operation of a motor vehicle without minimum insurance, reckless driving, driving the wrong way on a divided highway, endangering a highway worker, disobeying signal of an officer and failure to display lights.

    Police said Whitehead is being held on a $250,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in state Superior Court in Rockville. Authorities said no state troopers or construction workers were injured prior to Whitehead's arrest.

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