HAMDEN — A teenage car thief encountered police twice in different stolen cars Wednesday morning, according to local police.
The suspect was a 17-year-old Hamden boy who was the subject of an active “take into custody” order, Hamden Police Sgt. Angela Vey said Thursday. He was transported to state Superior Court for Juvenile Matters in Bridgeport, Vey said.
Police responded to Cherry Ann Street around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday after receiving a call about a suspicious motor vehicle, according to Vey. The caller described the car as a parked white Hyundai and reported a male suspect was asleep in the driver’s seat, Vey said.
Dispatchers running the car’s plates found the plates were associated with a car reported stolen in North Haven, according to Vey. Responding officers took the suspect, later identified as the 17-year-old boy, into custody after a brief struggle, Vey said. One of the officers, Officer Jinett Marte, had observed “that the ignition to the vehicle was damaged, and there was a USB cable attached to it,” Vey said.
Earlier in the day, the suspect had a run-in with another officer, Officer Vincenzo Palma, while driving a different stolen car, according to Vey. During the incident, Vey said, the 17-year-old drove erratically through the ACES Whitney Academy parking lot at 130 Leeder Hill Dr., traveling on the sidewalks at a high rate of speed. The stolen car was later recovered in New Haven, Vey said.
The boy was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, operating without a license and reckless driving in connection with the Leeder Hill Drive encounter, and larceny of a motor vehicle, possession of burglar’s tools and third-degree burglary in connection with the Cherry Ann Street encounter, according to Vey.
