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Herb Johnson: Ran to the rescue.
A car-jacking spree turned into a tractor-trailer-jacking that resulted in 10 crashed vehicles, a rush-hour traffic jam, and a fight with an ex-assistant police chief who happened to be on I‑95 and rushed to the rescue.
It ended with a 50-year-old man accused of creating all that mayhem.
The episode occurred Tuesday afternoon.
The man, whom police believed to be high on PCP or a similar drug, carjacked two separate cars earlier in the day, according to New Haven Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson.
The second carjacking ended with a crash near the Exit 46 of I‑95 on Long Wharf. The carjacker then ran onto the highway, across southbound lanes — and managed to get inside an 18-wheeler.
The man “assaulted the tractor-trailer operator by striking him multiple times with a metal thermos and pushing him out of the tractor onto the highway,” according to a release from the state police. The man “then began to drive the tractor-trailer and subsequently struck 10 vehicles in traffic before coming to final rest against the metal beam guardrail off the right shoulder.”
It was around 5:15 p.m. By this time state police had received a 911 call. Trooper Horatio Hinds arrived on the scene, approached the passenger side of the tractor-trailer. He tried to speak with the thief — who instead “lunged” at him.
“Trooper Hinds deployed his Taser, causing [the man] to be removed from the driver side of the tractor onto the highway,” according to the state release.
Meanwhile, traffic was stopped on the highway.
Sitting in one of those stopped vehicles was retired New Haven Assistant Police Chief Herb Johnson, who now works as an inspector for the state’s attorney’s office.
Johnson rushed over to help the trooper. Johnson also recognized the suspect from previous encounters over the years in New Haven, according to New Haven Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez.
The suspect fought with both cops — at one point breaking Johnson’s holster in an apparent attempt to grab his gun, according to the state release. Johnson “was able to release [the suspect’s] hand from his firearm.”
Police arrested the suspect on charges of robbery by carjacking, interfering with an officer, assault on a public safety officer, second-degree breach of peace, disorderly conduct, second-degree assault, second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, and first-degree reckless endangerment. he was taken to the hospital and “processed” there on a $100,000 bond.
Johnson and the tractor-trailer operator were taken to the hospital for treatment of “minor injuries,” according to the release.
The arrestee pleaded guilty in 2018 to felony charges of second-degree burglary, risk of injury to a child, and violation of a protective order. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, with five years probation. He pleaded guilty to the same year to a separate misdemeanor threatening charge.