Woman smashes into 7 cop cars and sends officers to hospital after chase, CT police say
This story was updated on April 4 at 3:55 p.m. to add the charges filed against the woman and additional details.
A woman accused of vandalizing 41 vehicles with a partner led authorities on a chase — before smashing into seven police cruisers and sending officers to a hospital, police in Connecticut say.
Seven Waterbury police officers were taken to a hospital after their vehicles were struck during the pursuit, which took them into nearby Monroe, roughly 23 miles away, Monroe police Lt. Stephen Corrone told McClatchy News.
Eventually, Hannah Casperson, 25, lost control of her white Hummer and slammed into a telephone pole in Monroe the morning of April 3 and was arrested, the Monroe Police Department said in a news release. She tried escaping on foot after crashing her vehicle but was caught by police, the department said in a separate release.
She “has multiple outstanding warrants and additional charges pending from multiple agencies,” the department said.
Casperson was initially wanted in Wolcott, 29 miles from Monroe and roughly 5 miles from Waterbury, after allegedly smashing the windows of 41 cars and stealing items from the vehicles with a man, Wolcott police said on April 1.
Waterbury police spotted the pair on April 1 and notified Wolcott police, they said. The man was arrested and Casperson fled in her Hummer.
On April 3, Waterbury police received information on Casperson’s whereabouts and went to “make contact” with her, Monroe police said in the news release.
However, she stepped on the pedal and slammed her Hummer into one Waterbury police cruiser and drove off on the highway before eventually hitting six other cruisers during the chase, according to authorities.
Corrone said seven officers were brought to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Ultimately, Casperson was also taken to a hospital after hitting a telephone pole and was “in stable condition,” Monroe police said. She was arraigned at the hospital on April 4, held on a court set bond of $750,000 and “turned over to the Department of Corrections.”
She has a previous criminal record and had pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in Southbury prior to the suspected car vandalisms, WTNH reported.
In the latest case, Casperson was charged with the following, according to police:
- Assault on a Public Safety Officer (7 Counts)
- Criminal Attempt at Assault on a Public Safety Officer (3 Counts)
- Reckless Endangerment 1st Degree
- Interfering with an Officer
- Failure to Insure a Private Vehicle
- Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
- Failure to Obey a Stop Sign
- Improper Turn Signal
- Failure to Drive in the Proper Lane
- Evading Responsibility
- Engaging Police in a Pursuit
- Reckless Driving
- Traveling Unreasonably Fast
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 9:01 AM with the headline "Woman smashes into 7 cop cars and sends officers to hospital after chase, CT police say."
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