A traffic stop at a Connecticut gas station turned into a multi-town highway pursuit, crash through a guardrail, and a search on foot that ended under someone’s deck. The driver had a previous warrant for fleeing from police. She also, by the end of it all, allegedly had narcotics, which she told officers she had swallowed
Connecticut State Police said the trooper who first pulled the black Subaru Legacy over previously, noticed a missing front license plate and watched the vehicle drift across its lane. Once police checked the driver, they learned she had an active warrant connected to a previous pursuit. She had not yet gotten out of the car at the gas station where troopers had boxed her in.
Once officers broke a rear window, things continued to get out of hand. The driver rammed a state police cruiser, backed into a fuel pump, hit a second cruiser and forced her way out of the gas station. She then drove off at high speed on Interstate 395.
How the pursuit ended and where the woman was eventually found turned what started as a routine stop into a multi-town case. It also involved state troopers and a municipal K-9 team. No one else was hurt during the incident, though. The same was not true of the cruisers or the pump.
How the Incident Started
According to Connecticut State Police, the encounter began when a trooper saw a black Subaru Legacy on Route 2 in Bozrah without a front license plate, failing to stay in its lane. The trooper made the stop, and when police checked the driver, they found she was wanted on an active warrant tied to a previous pursuit.
The driver, identified as Electra Chiulli, 33, was directed to a Route 97 gas station in Norwich. There, because of what police described as her history of fleeing from officers, troopers boxed in the Subaru with cruisers at the pumps.
Officers at the gas station repeatedly ordered Chiulli to open the door and get out, according to CT Insider and Patch. She remained in the car and questioned why she had been stopped. A trooper warned her that the window would be broken if she did not get out.
After officers broke a rear window, police said, Chiulli reversed, accelerated into the driver’s-side door of a state police cruiser, backed into a fuel pump and rammed a second cruiser before forcing her way out of the lot. State police said no troopers or bystanders were injured.
The Pursuit and the Guardrail Crash
State troopers pursued the Subaru as it left the gas station, according to police. Chiulli drove at high speed onto Interstate 395 northbound, left the highway at Exit 19 and continued onto Route 169. She struck a guardrail while trying to turn left onto Strand Road in Lisbon, the agency said, ending the driving portion of the chase.
Chiulli ran from the crash scene on foot, police said. Witnesses reported seeing her go behind a home on Strnad Road, and troopers set up a perimeter in the area. With assistance from a Montville Police K-9 unit, officers located her under the deck of a nearby home and took her into custody without further incident.
After Chiulli was in custody, an officer asked whether she had narcotics on her. Body camera audio captured her telling officers, in effect, that she had taken all of them. Police said she had been found near numerous bundles of suspected narcotics and narcotics paraphernalia. She was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
State police later announced charges of improper number of marker plates, failure to maintain lane, reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, evading responsibility of a collision, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, criminal attempt at assault on a public safety officer, first-degree reckless endangerment, three counts of first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of interfering with an officer. Her bond was set at $500,000.