A black Mercedes SUV had its rear wheel torn off during the chase. —Thomas Nash photo
Police today released the name of the man who led them on a wild high-speed chase through the center of town on Jan. 3 that resulted in the car he was operating damaging six vehicles. No injuries were reported.
Police said Mark Bogdanov Johnson, 23, of 1616 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, was being arraigned Jan. 4 at Danbury Superior Court and was being held in lieu of $100,000 bond.
His charges were first degree larceny, two counts of interfering with the duties of a police officer, assault on public safety personnel, reckless driving, four counts of evading responsibility, failure to obey the signal of an officer, failure to drive right, failure to drive in the proper lane and following too closely.
The chase began at 2 p.m. when the Police Department received multiple 911 calls from citizens reporting a blue vehicle traveling southbound on Danbury Road near Haviland Road, passing vehicles in a no passing zone at a high rate of speed.
An officer parked in a private lot off of Danbury Road observed the vehicle go by him at a very high rate of speed and passing vehicles. The officer pulled out in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but it sped away. The officer followed and found numerous damaged vehicles that the speeder had struck.
Eyewitness accounts included the following interviewed by Press staff Sunday afternoon.
“I don’t know how fast he was going, but I’ve never seen anyone driving that fast,” said Hope Gustafson, who was working at Chez Lenard hot dog stand on Main Street.
She and Ryan Goldberg both said they saw what looked to be a light blue SUV blow through town, leaving a trail of damage.
“I came out of the Variety Shop,” Goldberg said. “… All of a sudden I saw this car. It was light blue, kind of like a light blue Subaru SUV.”
“I think he hit two here,’ Gustafson said. “There was red car and that was trying to pull away and we heard the smack and he just kept on going…”
She thought the crazed driver on the loose hadn’t know he was entering a busy pedestrian area.
“He was hauling. It was like he didn’t know where he was driving into. It was almost like he wasn’t familiar with the area. He started driving in and he hit the brakes, you could hear the squealing. He hit the car, he hit the side of it. Parts of car were in the road.”
The speeding car became so damaged in the Branchville Road area, that the driver ran away and was pursued on foot by officers. Police gave chase and were able to take him into custody a short while later, behind a residence on King Lane.
Police recounted the trail of damage: “It was determined that the suspect vehicle struck another vehicle traveling south on Main Street near its intersection with Pound Street then continued southbound on Main Street The suspect vehicle then struck two more vehicles on Main Street near the intersection of Prospect Street, one traveling northbound and one traveling southbound. The suspect vehicle continued south on Main Street striking another vehicle which was traveling northbound on Main Street in the vicinity of King Lane. The impact caused debris from the vehicle to strike another vehicle which was also traveling northbound on Main Street. As a result of the multiple collisions the suspect vehicle became disabled in the vicinity of Main Street and Branchville Road (Rt. 102).
“It was then determined that the vehicle that Mr. Johnson was operating, a blue 2003 Toyota Highlander, was reported stolen out of New Canaan a short time earlier.”
Johnson was transported to Danbury Hospital for evaluation and released to police custody after the chase ended.
The post Stamford man identified as reckless driver appeared first on The Ridgefield Press.