According to police, a 33-year-old Stratford man at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 13:
- — was driving erratically on Mansfield Avenue,
- — while he was intoxicated, and
- — crashed a car belonging to his brother,
- — left the accident scene (where the car started burning and was destroyed), and then
- — went into a nearby house through an open garage, then was told to leave by the homeowner.
Police said the family of the man told them that he has an emotional health condition. No injuries resulted from the incident.
Darien police described the incident with this account (with accusations not proven in court):
Just before the accident, two witnesses told police that the man was driving erratically on Mansfield Avenue, traveling north. One witness, a Darien volunteer firefighter, said he was driving south on the same road and was almost struck by the gray Toyota Corolla that the Stratford man was driving.
The firefighter soon afterward was paged about the accident, so he called police to report what he’d seen.
The other witness, a retired police officer, told police that he was driving north on Mansfield Avenue when the Corolla approached him from behind at a high rate of speed, then passed his car near an “S” curve. The vehicle entered the southbound lane, then went off the road to the right, striking a tree. The Corolla then began smoking.
The witness stopped to help the driver but saw him leave the car and begin to run away. He followed the driver to a house on Mansfield Avenue near Maplewood Avenue.
The driver entered the house through an open garage. A resident of the home was there, otherwise alone, when a home alarm notified him someone was in his driveway. As he went to see who it was, he met the stranger in his home. The man asked the resident for help (what kind of help was unspecified by police). The resident told the man to go outside and wait. He had to tell the driver several times, but the driver complied.
Once both went outside, the resident met the retired police officer and the two of them had the man get on the ground as they waited for police to arrive. Police did arrive and took he driver back to the scene of the accident.
Police called to the scene saw the burning car. An officer tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher in his police vehicle, but that didn’t work. Firefighters called to the scene later extinguished the flames, but the car was totaled.
Police said the driver smelled of alcohol, saw his eyes were glassy and he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. He said he had not been taking medication but admitted to drinking one or two beers.
He told police he had come from Stamford and was trying to find his mother’s house, which he thought was in the area. Police later checked and found his mother doesn’t live in either Darien or Norwalk.
The man initially said he didn’t want medical treatment, but he later said his foot was hurt and it was determined that he needed to go to a hospital. He was taken to Norwalk Hospital. Police later applied for a search warrant to get blood-test results.
The blood test indicated his blood-alcohol level was 0.21, between two and three times the legal limit of 0.08. Police applied for and received an arrest warrant, and when the man was informed of it he turned himself in on Feb. 3 at Darien Police Headquarters.
He is charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended license (it had been suspended in 2006 after he’d been charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, second-degree criminal trespass and reckless driving.
The destroyed vehicle was owned by his brother.
The man’s bond was set at $35,000 and was later reduced. It was $25,000 after an appearance in state Superior Court in Stamford. The Connecticut Judicial Branch website indicates he has not been released and has not entered a plea.