Pursuit in Fairfield Ends in Rollover in Bridgeport

[Editor's Note: Incident information is supplied by the .]

An attempted burglary from an office on Black Rock Turnpike Monday evening ended in a rollover in Bridgeport, police said.

A complainant reported to police shortly after 5 p.m. that a thin, black man had entered his office at 1817 Black Rock Turnpike. The complainant had gone back to the office after hours to check on work when he discovered the man standing in the hallway, according to the report.

The complainant told police that he shouted at the man, who ran out the back door, got into a white Plymouth Acclaim, and took off down Black Rock Turnpike.

A police detective in an unmarked car saw a tall, thin black male run across the street, get into the Acclaim, and speed off. The detective also saw the complainant pointing in the direction of the car and on his cell phone, presumably reporting the incident to police dispatch.

The detective determined a crime may have just occurred and called in the location to dispatch as the vehicle sped toward Fairfield Woods Road, police said.

The Acclaim stopped in a People's Bank parking lot nearby and that's when the detective was able to locate the vehicle for the first time since seeing it flee from the office building, according to the report.

As the Acclaim left the parking lot and drove down Brooklawn Avenue, a marked Fairfield police car attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop, but the operator lead police in pursuit, driving recklessly into Bridgeport and passing cars on the wrong side of the road until colliding with an SUV on Dewey Street in Bridgeport, police said. The small SUV, which was operated by a pregnant woman, rolled over onto its roof.

Fairfield police helped the woman, who is nine months pregnant, escape the SUV. She was treated for minor injuries at St. Vincent's Medical Center, police said.

The burglary suspect was also sent to St. Vincent's for treatment of minor injuries. He will not be charged until he is released from the custody of the hospital.

Fairfield police did say the suspect is a Bridgeport resident and they believe he had been attempting to steal electronics. The alarm in the office building had not been activated and there was no sign of forced entry to the front or back doors, department spokesperson Sgt. Sue Lussier said.