Newtown Police say a suspect of interest in a number of stolen vehicle cases dragged a Newtown officer, nearly crushing him against his own patrol unit, before temporarily escaping October 7. The individual was eventually apprehended and is facing numerous charges locally as well as being wanted on warrants from other departments.

The arrest of 18-year-old John Paul Suero of Danbury likely closes an investigation into another Newtown incident that occurred October 1. In that case, [naviga:u]the suspect triggered a Code Red alert[/naviga:u] after fleeing from police when a stolen car he was seen operating became disabled at the intersection of Bancroft and Pole Bridge Roads in Sandy Hook.

Newtown Lieutenant David Kullgren told The Newtown Bee on October 15 that the suspect’s apprehension could help close a number of other stolen vehicle and criminal investigations in communities throughout the region in which Suero is a person of interest.

According to details provided by police, on October 7, Newtown Officer Adam James was among a number of officers conducting traffic enforcement on Berkshire Road (Route 34) when a vehicle missing a front registration plate was sighted.

Police say that after a check on the rear plate revealed it was registered to another vehicle, Officer James attempted to pull the driver over, but instead the vehicle sped away, forcing a brief pursuit that was discontinued due to public safety concerns. It was eventually determined that this vehicle, a 2018 Nissan Altima sedan with three or four occupants, [naviga:u]had been stolen[/naviga:u] from Brookfield.

A short time later, according to the report, Officer James located the allegedly stolen vehicle on a side street and approached it on foot.

As Officer James attempted to disable the vehicle, it sped away, dragging him and almost crushing him between his and the suspect’s vehicles. Returning to his own patrol vehicle, Officer James was able to once again locate the unoccupied suspect vehicle on Sugarloaf Road.

Newtown’s K9 unit successfully tracked the wanted individual, but he was reportedly picked up and taken from the vicinity by a third vehicle.

Having been able to identify the suspect as Suero, Newtown Police issued a warrant for his arrest with 11 charges, with the most serious being Assault on a Police Officer, Engaging In Pursuit, Reckless Operation, and Larceny First Degree. The suspect was also was facing warrants from Bethel and Torrington on Failure to Appear charges related to other incidents in those communities.

On October 13, Newtown officers accompanied Danbury officers on a manhunt for Suero, checking a list of what Lt Kullgren said were known locations where he might be. After locating Suero and taking him into custody, he was held on a $104,500 bond and transported to Danbury Superior Court for arraignment on October 15.

Along with the aforementioned charges, Suero is also facing charges of Reckless Endangerment First Degree, Improper Use of a Marker plate, Failure to Display Plates, Unsafe Movement of a Stopped Vehicle, Interfering with an Officer/Resisting Arrest, Criminal Trover Second Degree, Larceny Sixth Degree.

Newtown Police also arrested Suero on two separate warrants for Failure to Appear Second Degree originally issued out of Bethel and an additional warrant for Failure to Appear First Degree issued out of Torrington.

In the October 1 incident, a witness reported what he believed was a motor vehicle crash at the Bancroft-Pole Bridge intersection. But it was later determined that the heavy front end damage likely occurred elsewhere, and the vehicle was driven until it stopped running, police said.

Police later learned that the silver Volkswagen sedan had been stolen from Danbury about one month ago.

Following the suspect’s flight from the October 1 incident, [naviga:u]police launched a search for him[/naviga:u] using a police tracking dog and a surveillance drone, which transmits live video to the ground, but were unsuccessful in locating him.