By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY
WEST HARTFORD — Two people were taken into custody after the driver sped away from police and crashed near the Hartford line overnight, police said.
The two occupants ran from officers, said police, who learned that the car they bailed out of — now totaled — had been stolen.
Joaquin Cedeno, 22, of Laurel Street in Hartford was arrested on charges that include third-degree larceny, tampering with a motor vehicle, reckless driving and engaging police in pursuit, police said.
The second person, Joseph Murphy, 40, of West Euclide St. in Hartford was charged with two counts of interfering with police, third-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit larceny and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to a police report, the incident happened about 3:40 a.m. when a car driving around South Highland Street made an officer suspicious.
The officer tried to stop the car as it was headed south on Prospect Avenue, but when he activated his patrol car’s lights, the car sped away over the Prospect Avenue bridge, police said.
The officer did not chase the car, the report says. Once it was out of sight, however, he checked the area and saw that it had crashed at Prospect and Caya avenues. Two occupants bolted but were taken into custody.
Police learned that the Acura Integra — which hit a fire hydrant, a telephone pole and a traffic control signal — had been stolen from Oxford Street in Hartford.