WINDSOR, CT- Every once in a while, a story that could have gone bad turns out with a happy ending. In this case, not for the bad guy.
Just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, a man stole a car while a mother was dropping off her child at the St. Gabriel School in the center of this suburban Hartford community. Inside the vehicle was a 17-month-old baby, CT Insider reports.
After stealing the car, the suspect then drove a short distance away to the Windsor Federal Savings Bank, Windsor police said. While fleeing the bank robbery, the suspect crashed into a tree on Windsor Ave. (Rte 159) near Hillcrest Rd.
Police soon determined the stolen car, bank robbery, and motor vehicle crash were related, and police flooded the area.
On arrival at the motor vehicle crash, first responders found the baby awake and responsive in its car seat. The child and mother were reunited, and the child was transported to Connecticut Children’s Hospital in nearby Hartford for non-life-threatening injuries.
The criminal was not so lucky, however. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police said the criminal’s identity was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
NBC Connecticut reported the North Central Municipal Accident Reconstruction team is investigating the car crash.
St. Gabriel’s notified anxious parents about the incident while assuring no weapons were involved, and students and staff were safe.
“I am writing to inform you that there was a car theft incident that involved police presence in the front of the school this morning. No weapons of any kind were involved. Please know that our students and staff are safe and there is no threat on campus. Please join me in praying for our families,” the message said.
A neighbor near the crash site told FOX 61 News that she heard the crash.
“I heard a series of very loud bangs,” said Suzanne Plover-Lanza. “From the sound of the accident itself, I knew it wasn’t good. It sounded like an explosion, and then I saw a plume of smoke, and you could smell it,” she continued.
Police told FOX 61 that the suspect stole a silver Acura sedan from the school. Video taken of the vehicle after the crash showed a twisted mangle of metal.
A woman who witnessed the crash said several people stopped to help, and noticed the baby inside the car.
“There were several people who were driving by who had stopped to help. I heard them screaming, ‘there’s a baby inside, there’s a baby inside!’ They picked up a tree branch to try and break the window to get in,” the witness, Alysse Reynolds, said.
First responders quickly arrived at the scene and used the Jaws of Life to remove the vehicle's roof to extricate the child.
“I witnessed a mother and child being loaded into an ambulance, and I pray for their full and speedy recovery,” said Reynolds.
“That’s heartbreaking,” Plover-Lanza said. “I can only imagine how absolutely helpless that mother must have felt.”
She added that having lived at that location for over 20 years, she’s “seen a lot of spectacular accidents at that very spot.”
“I’m just grateful that it didn’t happen at another time of day when there might have been more people on the sidewalks going to work or the bus stop or school,” Reynolds added.
The incident remains under investigation by Windsor Police.
Just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, a man stole a car while a mother was dropping off her child at the St. Gabriel School in the center of this suburban Hartford community. Inside the vehicle was a 17-month-old baby, CT Insider reports.
After stealing the car, the suspect then drove a short distance away to the Windsor Federal Savings Bank, Windsor police said. While fleeing the bank robbery, the suspect crashed into a tree on Windsor Ave. (Rte 159) near Hillcrest Rd.
Police soon determined the stolen car, bank robbery, and motor vehicle crash were related, and police flooded the area.
On arrival at the motor vehicle crash, first responders found the baby awake and responsive in its car seat. The child and mother were reunited, and the child was transported to Connecticut Children’s Hospital in nearby Hartford for non-life-threatening injuries.
The criminal was not so lucky, however. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police said the criminal’s identity was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
NBC Connecticut reported the North Central Municipal Accident Reconstruction team is investigating the car crash.
St. Gabriel’s notified anxious parents about the incident while assuring no weapons were involved, and students and staff were safe.
“I am writing to inform you that there was a car theft incident that involved police presence in the front of the school this morning. No weapons of any kind were involved. Please know that our students and staff are safe and there is no threat on campus. Please join me in praying for our families,” the message said.
A neighbor near the crash site told FOX 61 News that she heard the crash.
“I heard a series of very loud bangs,” said Suzanne Plover-Lanza. “From the sound of the accident itself, I knew it wasn’t good. It sounded like an explosion, and then I saw a plume of smoke, and you could smell it,” she continued.
Police told FOX 61 that the suspect stole a silver Acura sedan from the school. Video taken of the vehicle after the crash showed a twisted mangle of metal.
A woman who witnessed the crash said several people stopped to help, and noticed the baby inside the car.
“There were several people who were driving by who had stopped to help. I heard them screaming, ‘there’s a baby inside, there’s a baby inside!’ They picked up a tree branch to try and break the window to get in,” the witness, Alysse Reynolds, said.
First responders quickly arrived at the scene and used the Jaws of Life to remove the vehicle's roof to extricate the child.
“I witnessed a mother and child being loaded into an ambulance, and I pray for their full and speedy recovery,” said Reynolds.
“That’s heartbreaking,” Plover-Lanza said. “I can only imagine how absolutely helpless that mother must have felt.”
She added that having lived at that location for over 20 years, she’s “seen a lot of spectacular accidents at that very spot.”
“I’m just grateful that it didn’t happen at another time of day when there might have been more people on the sidewalks going to work or the bus stop or school,” Reynolds added.
The incident remains under investigation by Windsor Police.
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