BRANFORD -- Four teens and a 19-year-old man from Bridgeport were arrested after stealing a car, and crashing it into a Branford police cruiser.
This is the second time a stolen car crashed into Branford police in a couple of weeks. The driver was only 14-years-old.
Police responded to a report of suspicious people and a car in the area of Seldon Avenue. Five cars were reported stolen from that same area less than 24 hours earlier.
Police were on the lookout for a dark-colored Honda minivan with a bike rack on the rear, when they received another report of activity close by on Pleasant Point Road.
The resident told 911 operators that a white truck had just crashed into parked cars in his driveway, and that the occupants were leaving in the Honda minivan.
As police approached the area, the minivan struck the front of the patrol car, went off the road, hit a rock and then rolled onto its side.
All five occupants were temporarily trapped inside the vehicle until they were removed and taken into custody by police.
Police said that the five had arrived in the area using the stolen Honda and then stole a 2018 Ford truck from a nearby home on Totoket Road before crashing it at the end of Pleasant Point Road.
All of the juveniles, three from Bridgeport and 14-year-old driver from Derby, were all charged with a number of offenses including, larceny, conspiracy to commit larceny, and burglary. All the juveniles were released to their parents and are scheduled to appear in a juvenile court in their area.
The 19-year-old that was also present, Patrick Geyer of Bridgeport, was charged with the same offenses and is being held on a $75,000 bail. He has at least one pending case in Bridgeport and is due back in New Haven Superior Court May 3.
