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Retired cop recalls struggle to subdue man sentenced 8 years for wild big rig carjacking on I-95

Herb Johnson said he still wakes up every day with pain in his knees, a physical reminder of the incident.

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — A Connecticut man who went on a wild carjacking crime spree that culminated on I-95 in New Haven will spend the next eight years behind bars. 52-year-old Frank Montes-Rivera was sentenced at Middletown Superior Court on Tuesday.

“He was the right person to be on the highway that day,” said Julie Johnson. 

“I just saw cars smashed and turned and people were out of their cars,” said Herb Johnson, who was one of the men who intervened and risked his life to save others.

Herb and Julie Johnson are husband and wife who are also both retired New Haven police officers. Herb was on his way home. It was rush hour on I-95 in New Haven in October of 2021. Montes-Rivera had just commandeered a tractor-trailer, smashing into about 10 other cars. 

“At that time a tractor-trailer truck came swerving in around cars and smashing cars and went into the guard rail,” described Herb.

Little did Herb know that just minutes before, Montes-Rivera carjacked a man who was pumping gas at a nearby Citgo station, crashing and dumping that car, then running onto the highway where he carjacked the big rig. The incident escalated as Herb and a Connecticut State Trooper ran to confront Montes-Rivera in the cab. 

“It was a major struggle. He was fighting and we both fell to the ground, and he grabbed my gun,” recalled Herb.

Eventually, they wrestled Montes-Rivera into custody. An incident the Johnsons won’t soon forget. 

“As a former police officer and as the wife of a police officer it’s the phone call you don’t ever want to get but this is what officers do day in and day out,” said his wife, Julie.

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Herb is now an inspector with the Division of Criminal Justice and said he thinks justice was served. 

“We have compassion but forgiveness. That was the New Haven way. I thought the sentence was appropriate. He obviously has some needs. But there also has to be consequences. There were a lot of people on that highway who could have gotten killed," said Herb.

Herb said he still wakes up every day with pain in his knees, a physical reminder of the incident. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt or worse on the highway that day.

RELATED: Wild scene on I-95 | CSP trooper, State's attorney inspector fight with suspect in truck theft who crashed into cars on highway

RELATED: Plainville police searching for 53-year-old man missing since September

Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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