Westport police say a late-night traffic stop turned into something closer to a stunt-driving reel when a Mount Vernon man allegedly jumped a curb, barreled down a sidewalk and cleared a retaining wall to get around a construction zone and away from officers.
The chaos started around 12:15 a.m. on Jan. 13 near the Saugatuck Railroad Station, when a license-plate reader flagged a car tied to a person with an active arrest warrant, according to police. Officers tried to speak with the driver, but say the vehicle took off and headed onto Riverside Avenue, where overnight road work had traffic squeezed into a single lane.
Instead of waiting his turn, the driver allegedly chose his own route. Police say he drove up onto the curb, onto the sidewalk and over a retaining wall into a private parking lot so he could skirt the construction site. Road workers were on scene as the car vaulted into the lot, and officers later sought an arrest warrant for the driver.
Authorities eventually located 29-year-old Khauhi Tobias in a Westchester County jail and brought him back to Connecticut, where he now faces charges of reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, illegal window tinting and five counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. He is being held on $35,000 bond, according to Daily Voice.
Legal implications
Under Connecticut law, reckless endangerment in the first degree (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-63) is a Class A misdemeanor that can carry up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, according to the Connecticut General Assembly. Prosecutors typically consider factors such as whether anyone was hurt, how many people were put at risk and the defendant’s prior record when deciding whether to seek jail time, and multiple counts can reflect several workers or bystanders endangered in a single incident.
The case highlights how exposed road crews can be when drivers ignore traffic controls, and why departments say they have to constantly weigh the danger of high-speed chases around active work zones. Westport police said they ultimately ended the pursuit for public safety reasons while the investigation and court process move forward.
