Ariela Martin Photo
A New Haven driver in his early 40s went on a tear through Westville streets, slamming into cars and circling the blocks, until he got stuck — and pulled into an ambulance.
The incident occurred around 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Before totaling his black sedan, the man was seen driving into multiple cars and onto neighbor lawns, and speeding through the otherwise quiet streets of the neighborhood.
Neighbors, donned in face masks and attempting to keep a six-foot distance, watched the scene unfold from the sidewalks.
Libby Abraham, who lives on Woodbridge Avenue, was walking with her husband Mark, who is on crutches, and their two sons, who were riding their bikes.
She heard what sounded like a car crash at the corner of McKinley and Edgewood. At that point, she called 911.
The driver circled around the Westville fire station, then returned to McKinley. Abraham’s sons dropped their bikes on the corner of McKinley and Woodbridge, and ran into a neighbor’s home. They sheltered in the basement, unsure if he was an active shooter.
“He was doing 360s in the middle of the road,” said top Westville cop Lt. Elliot Rosa.
The man finally slammed into a car and couldn’t move the vehicle.
A half-dozen officers arrived on the scene. They ordered the man out of the car.
He didn’t move.
“He was holding onto the steering wheel,” Lt. Rosa said. So the officers pulled him out. “He wasn’t punching the officers. I think he was more out of it. He wasn’t responsive to commands.”
The man was bleeding from his face and appeared to have “minor injuries,” according to Rosa. He was transported by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital.
Meanwhile, the cops, who found marijuana in the man’s car, are applying for an arrest warrant to serve on the man, according to Rosa.
In the above video, Lt. Rosa offers an update on motor vehicle-related and other neighborhood crimes.