NAUGATUCK, Conn. — A Naugatuck police officer is lucky to be OK after her cruiser was rammed by a 15-year-old in a stolen car late Tuesday afternoon. The teen now faces several charges in connection to the car theft and the crash.
Naugatuck police also released dash cam footage of the crash.
Officers were alerted around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a stolen Audi in the area. Police "pinged" the car at a commercial trucking parking lot on Elm Street, part of the Audi's anti-theft technology.
An officer found the Audi and called for backup, and the Audi started to drive away.
Officer Hailey Zarzuela pulled into the parking lot in her cruiser when the Audi passed by and struck the front-right side of the car, disabling it and injuring the Zarzuela inside, police said.
The car footage police released shows the impact of the crash and the Audi immediately driving away.
"My office is in the front corner and we hear commotion in the street," said John Hare, Owner of Vita Marble and Granite, directly across Elm St. from where the crash took place.
"You know you’re you try to figure out piece together what’s going on and you see a cruiser get hit and you’re like wait a minute. It’s a bid unnerving," Hare added.
"Debris from the impact struck pedestrians who were walking in the area," noted Naugatuck Police Chief Colin McAllister.
The Audi continued toward downtown, where the driver abandoned the car in a parking lot on Water Street and ran off.
The 15-year-old from Naugatuck was later apprehended near the YMCA and taken into custody. Officers note that they worked with the Waterbury State's Attorney Office to secure an order to detain.
"This juvenile is familiar to Naugatuck police as well as other agencies and we believe is involved in other vehicle thefts," said McAllister saying what police chiefs across the country do: Juvenile justice laws do not serve as a deterrent.
The teen faces several charges, including criminal attempt to commit assault, larceny, assault on an officer, and interfering with an officer.
Zarzuela was taken to Waterbury Hospital with injuries to her arm and leg and was released Tuesday evening.
"We are thankful Officer Zarzuela’s injuries were minor as in-car video showed how quickly the incident unfolded," Naugatuck police said in a news release Wednesday.
"We are lucky she wasn’t hurt seriously," said Mayor Pete Hess (D-Naugatuck). "I will say this, she is as tough as nails and she is a great Naugatuck officer."
Police later determined the Audi was stolen out of Avon on Monday night.
McAllister added he's not ruling out additional arrests in this case.
Leah Myers is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at lmyers@fox61.com
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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