May 16--NORWICH -- One officer was almost hit by a vehicle and another officer shot out the back tire of the same vehicle during a wild police chase through the city early Wednesday morning that led to several charges against the vehicle's two occupants.
Police said Michael Meriwether, 34, failed to stop for an officer that tried to stop Meriwether's vehicle after he left a convenience store in the Occum section of town. Police said Meriwether's vehicle resembled one used in recent burglaries and larcenies around Norwich.
The vehicle continued onto Interstate 395, exited at the Norwichtown exit 82 and continued to Wawecus Street and then Rogers Road, police said.
Twice during the chase, police said, Meriwether stopped as if to comply with the officer's attempts to stop him, only to resume the chase once officers exited their cruisers. Police said the initial officer had been joined by a backup officer and the patrol supervisor.
Police said at the intersection of Rogers Road and North Wawecus Hill Road, the vehicle was unable to negotiate the turn and slid sideways in the roadway. Police gave commands over the cruiser's PA systems for Meriwether and his occupant, 24-year-old Autumn Bouchard, to turn off and exit the vehicle. Neither complied, police said.
Police said the two officers, who police did not identify Wednesday, approached the vehicle on foot while the supervisor stayed in his car in case the vehicle resumed the chase. At that point, Meriwether drove the vehicle rapidly forward and backwards in an attempt to escape, nearly hitting one of the officers. The other officer, concerned for the safety of his backup officer, shot the rear tire of the vehicle to try and disable it, police said.
Police said the vehicle again fled, travelling southbound on North Wawecus Hill Road, where it hit a mailbox, and sustained a mechanical failure, which disabled the vehicle. Both vehicle occupants were taken into custody and Meriwether, of no certain address, was charged with engaging an officer in pursuit, reckless driving, second-degree reckless endangerment, interfering with an officer, no insurance, misuse of plates, operating an unregistered vehicle, possession of a stolen marker plate and no front plate.
Police said Meriwether also had two active arrest warrants out of other towns: one from Willimantic for disorderly conduct and another from East Hartford for evading responsibility. Police said Meriwether has an "extensive criminal history" with several arrests and convictions for burglary.
Meriwether's passenger, Bouchard, also of no certain address, was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Meriwether was held on $50,000 bond and Bouchard on $1,000 bond. Both were set to appear in Norwich Superior Court today, police said.
Police said no one was injured in the incident and that the New London County State's Attorney's Office was notified because an officer discharged his firearm during the incident.
Copyright 2012 - The Day, New London, Conn.
