NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A police chase that started in Hamden over motor vehicle violations and went through a university campus ended early Tuesday with the fleeing car crashing into a house, landing on a sleeping man.
It took firefighters about an hour to remove the 34-year-old, who New Haven police identify as tenant Michael Sweat. Sweat suffered second and third-degree burns to the lower part of his body, but is expected to survive, police said.
The driver got away.
According to New Haven police, the chase started about 12:30 a.m. when a BMW X5 failed to stop for Hamden officers in the area of Dix and Arch streets in their town. Hamden police tried using "stop sticks" to deflate the fleeing car's tires. But the driver swerved to avoid them, veering toward a Hamden officer, New Haven police said.
Hamden police notified New Haven that the chase was entering their city. A New Haven lieutenant ordered city officers not to join, the release states.
The pursuit led officers through the Southern Connecticut State University campus area in New Haven and into the city's Newhallville neighborhood, Officer David B. Hartman stated in a press release.
The driver of the fleeing car lost control at Winchester Avenue and Webster Street, crashing into a corner house at 91 Winchester Avenue.
After about an hour of work that Hartman called "heroic," New Haven firefighters removed Sweat, who was transported to The Hospital of St. Raphael.
The house appears to be structurally sound, Hartman said. Still, city building inspectors remained on the scene as the car was removed.
New Haven police have asked the state police to investigate.
The Hamden police department had no comment.
Copyright 2012 - The Hartford Courant, Conn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
