CHESHIRE, Conn. — A Waterbury man accused of attacking and injuring a passenger on Interstate 84 about a year ago has been charged in the incident, according to Connecticut State Police.
Steven Texidor, 31, was arrested Thursday after a nearly year-long investigation.
Traffic on I-84 west in Cheshire was backed up on the morning of June 25, 2021, as police were investigating the scene.
A 911 call came in overnight reporting a vehicle pulled over near Exits 25-26 that was smoking or sparking, according to the arrest warrant.
A responding trooper found a car on the right shoulder of the highway with "fresh damage" and that it appeared to have hit a metal barrier. The trooper found a handgun on top of the truck, state police said. Also, the vehicle's back window was shattered and broken out.
The license plates appeared to have been bent and tampered with, as if someone tried to remove them by hand, according to state police.
A person in the front passenger seat was found with an injury to the abdomen and was bleeding. An ambulance took the victim to St. Mary's Hospital.
The victim told police they asked Texidor for a ride from the Southington bar they were at to a bar in Waterbury the night before, according to the arrest warrant. The victim said Texidor was with a person they did not know.
While in the car, the victim remembered getting hit many times, possibly with a firearm, before seeing a flash from a gun. When the car was stopped and the victim got out, Texidor and his friend were kicking the victim and asking where the gun was, according to the arrest warrant.
The victim noted he lost $100, thinking Texidor and the friend stole it. Police found the cash on the ground at the scene while collecting evidence.
Investigations revealed that the vehicle belonged to Texidor's girlfriend, who was at a local hospital preparing to give birth to her child. Police said Texidor took the vehicle while she was hospitalized and that her home was "ransacked."
Police said it appeared someone forcibly entered her home. The woman, who was not identified, told police she locked the car before going to the hospital and that Texidor was not supposed to be driving her vehicle.
State police charged Texidor with criminal possession of a firearm, assault, robbery, carrying a firearm without a permit, conspiracy to commit assault, and conspiracy to commit robbery. His bond was set to $250,000.
He was already at Waterbury superior court at the time of the arrest Thursday, so he was presented for this case on the same day.
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