Crime & Safety

Parolee Arrested in I-95 Chase that Passed through Westport [Update]

Norwalk police say a man trying to sell stolen property sped onto I-95 before his car crashed in Fairfield.

Update 8:51 a.m.

Norwalk police have arrested the 39-year-old city man who had been hospitalized Thursday morning following a suspected burglary and chase on I-95 in a stolen SUV that ended in a crash.

James Perdue, of 29 Orchard Street — already on parole for burglary and escape — sustained only minor injuries and has been released from Norwalk Hospital, according to Norwalk police department spokesman Lt. Paul Resnick.

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According to Resnick, Perdue was driving a stolen, white 1999 Jeep Cherokee, when he was seen on West Avenue at 4:51 a.m. The vehicle had been reported stolen March 7 in Norwalk.

He's a suspect in a pre-dawn commercial burglary Thursday, at a South Norwalk store.

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"Detectives are hard at work on these three burglaries," Resnick told Patch in an e-mail. "No burglary charges have yet been filed."

Two Radio Shack stores in Norwalk have been burglarized in a similar fashion in the past month, Resnick said.

Perdue faces charges of first-degree larceny, interfering with an officer, parole violation, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, operating without a license and improper signaling. He is scheduled to appear Friday March 11 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.

Original Story

A suspected car thief led state and Norwalk police on a chase through Westport on Thursday morning.

The stolen white Grand Cherokee Jeep was on Interstate 95 before crashing near an exit in Fairfield.

The driver was transported to Norwalk Hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries. Norwalk police said they were waiting for him to receive initial treatment at the hospital before they arrested him. Police are expected to charge him with first-degree larceny and interfering with a police officer and may have further charges against him in the future.

Norwalk police said the man is also expected to be charged with reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle without a license and making an improper left turn. It was unclear whether or not Norwalk or state police would make those charges.

By late Thursday morning, police didn't yet have a full description of the incident available, including arrest information and the age and address of the man taken into custody from the crashed vehicle. Patch will not release his name until the arrest has taken place.

Norwalk police gave this account of the incident:

At about 1:25 a.m., police received reports from people at the Miracle Shell service station at 94 Main Ave. in Norwalk, who said a man was trying to sell them a radio from Radio Shack that they believed may have been stolen. When police arrived, the man had left.

Three burglaries of Radio Shack stores in Norwalk had occurred in recent weeks. In each case glass doors were broken, apparently after vehicles or a vehicle ran into them. Tire tracks led up to the broken windows.

The most recent burglary took place at 12:13 a.m. Thursday when an alarm system alerted police to the store at 30 Belden Ave. The glass door and windows were broken and tire tracks led up to them. A similar break-in occurred on Feb. 16 at the same store. At the Radio Shack on Connecticut Ave., a similar burglary occurred in late February.

Norwalk police detectives are continuing to investigate the burglaries.

The man drove onto I-95 and sped east. Norwalk police were joined by state police on the highway. The man crashed his vehicle near Exit 21 in Fairfield and was transported to Norwalk hospital. How he crashed the vehicle and the nature and seriousness of his injuries are not known at this time. Requests for more information have been made to Norwalk police and state police.

The motor vehicle the man was driving had been stolen on Sunday in Norwalk, police said.


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