HARTFORD, Conn — The video above is from September 2021.
A New Britain man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with an incident that seriously injured a Farmington police officer who was trying to arrest the man.
On Friday, Pedro Acevedo, 36, of New Britain, pleaded guilty to Assault in the First Degree with Serious Physical Injury, Assault of Public Safety/EMT/Public Transit or Health Care Personnel and Evading Responsibility in Operation of Motor Vehicles.
Acevedo was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the assault charge and 10 years in prison for the assault of a police officer charge, to be served concurrently. Additionally, the defendant received a two-year prison sentence for evading responsibility, also to be served concurrently.
On Sept. 20, 2021, Farmington Police Officer James O'Donnell responded to a complaint at a condominium complex on Talcott Forest Road of two people in a white Nissan Altima stealing catalytic converters.
When O’Donnell came upon the Altima - which was occupied at the time only by the driver – O’Donnell turned on his emergency lights and positioned his vehicle directly in front of the Altima, with the Altima’s front end facing the front door of the police cruiser.
The driver backed up the Altima and then pulled it forward. When O’Donnell got out of the cruiser, Acevedo drove moved the Altima forward, hittng and pinning O’Donnell. The Altima continued forward, dragging O’Donnell the length of the police cruiser.
O’Donnell suffered a broken sacrum, multiple fractures of his pelvis, broken bones on his right foot, and deep contusions to his legs in the incident.
With police in pursuit, the driver of the Altima drove over roadway islands until abandoning the vehicle on a dead-end road. The plate on the Altima came back to a vehicle that was stolen out of Middletown on a month earlier.
Police found two saws, two used catalytic converters, six different license plates, a black bandana, a blue surgical mask and work gloves in the Altima. Officers took DNA swabs and lifted fingerprints from the vehicle. Investigators found a palm print on the Altima that matched the defendant’s and the defendant’s DNA was included in swabs taken from the steering wheel of the Altima and on the blue surgical mask and black bandana. Using the Cellebrite platform, police were able to track the defendant’s movements before and after the incident.
Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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