Motorist Collides With Utility Pole During Police Pursuit

By Andrew Gorosko

During a police pursuit on Monday night, a motorist driving northward on Main Street apparently lost control of the vehicle that he was driving and collided with a utility pole, resulting in a localized power outage and the closure of a section of Main Street for several hours until pole repairs could be made.

Following the incident, police arrested motorist Thomas King, 33, of Southbury on 12 charges, including driving under the influence, reckless driving, and evading responsibility.

Police provided an account of the events that led up to the crash, which was investigated by Officer Leonard Penna.

At about 8:33 pm, police received a report of a motor vehicle accident on Bankside Trail in the Riverside section of Sandy Hook. The caller told police that a motorist driving a 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera sedan had struck and damaged a retaining wall and then drove away from the scene.

Police received a description of the vehicle involved in the collision and soon thereafter spotted it traveling on Church Hill Road, near Commerce Road, police said.

“Upon stopping the vehicle, the suspect vehicle came to a stop momentarily and then proceeded westbound on Church Hill Road in an attempt to evade police,” police said in a statement on the incident.

Police then attempted to stop the Oldsmobile, but it continued traveling westward on Church Hill Road, after which it turned right onto northbound Main Street, police said.

At the intersection of Main Street and Schoolhouse Hill Road, the Oldsmobile drove off the roadway and struck a utility pole on the right road shoulder, police said.

Police said King was alone in the Oldsmobile. Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters went to the accident.

Police said they took King into custody without incident. King was transported to Danbury Hospital, where he was treated for minor facial injuries, police said.

Several hours later, King was released from the hospital and transported back to the Newtown police station where he was arrested on 12 charges.

Police charged King with driving under the influence, reckless driving, evading responsibility, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving without a license, misuse of a marker plate, engaging police in pursuit, failure to obey a traffic signal, failure to obey a stop sign, making a restricted turn, driving without automotive insurance, and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Police held King on $25,000 bail overnight for arraignment Tuesday in Danbury Superior Court. King was being held on $7,500 bail on Wednesday at the Bridgeport Correctional Center.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said Tuesday that police are still reviewing the details of the case. He said that the police pursuit of King was not conducted at excessive speeds. The police chief said it is unclear how many police vehicles were pursuing the Oldsmobile when the accident occurred.

Police are conservative about conducting such vehicular pursuits and do so only when the circumstances for such vehicle chases are correct, he said.

Although the accident that King was involved in on Bankside Trail was relatively minor, King should have stopped after that accident occurred, Chief Kehoe said.