A routine Friday night on Connecticut’s busiest highway turned into a multi-town pursuit and a lengthy list of criminal charges after state police stopped a fleeing SUV between Darien and Bridgeport, according to a Criminal Information Summary released by the Connecticut State Police Troop G.

How the Night Unfolded

Shortly before midnight on April 17, 2026, Trooper Tabitha Ortega was dispatched to assist with a developing situation on Interstate 95. The call originated from Stamford police, who reported a gray Toyota RAV4 bearing New Hampshire plates had been involved in a hit-and-run within city limits. By the time the call reached Troop G at 11:39 p.m., Stamford officers were already in active pursuit of the vehicle northbound on I-95, trailing it through Darien and into the area of Exit 10.

According to the state police summary, Stamford PD terminated the pursuit near Exit 13 — a common practice when high-speed chases begin to pose more danger to the public than the suspect being chased. But the RAV4 did not slow down. State troopers picked up the vehicle several exits later, near Exit 18, and tried to initiate a traffic stop. The driver refused to pull over.

What followed was a coordinated effort by responding troopers, who ultimately boxed the vehicle in and forced it to a stop on I-95 northbound near Exit 26 — an interchange that sits in the Bridgeport area, roughly sixteen miles up the highway from where Stamford police had first given chase. The driver was taken into custody at the scene.

What Police Say They Found

The arrest itself was only the beginning. During a search of the vehicle, troopers reported recovering a firearm, an SOG-brand tomahawk axe, and a 12-inch black machete described in the report as a “Sogfari.” It is this combination — a fleeing vehicle, a loaded chase across multiple jurisdictions, and an assortment of weapons — that transformed what might have been a straightforward traffic case into one carrying eleven separate charges.

The driver, identified in the report as a 26-year-old woman from Goffstown, New Hampshire, was booked at the scene. Her charges span traffic violations, firearms offenses, and more serious criminal counts, including reckless driving, disobeying the signal of an officer, failure to display lights, failure to insure a private motor vehicle, carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal sale or purchase of a large-capacity magazine, illegal sale of ammunition, criminal mischief in the third degree (three counts), interfering with an officer, and — most notably — reckless endangerment in the first degree. The inclusion of first-degree reckless endangerment, a more serious count than the second-degree version, suggests investigators believe the pursuit created a substantial risk of serious physical injury to other people on the road.

Bond, Court, and What Comes Next

A duty sergeant set bond at $100,000 cash — a notably high figure that reflects both the number of charges and the presence of weapons in the vehicle. Unable to post that amount at the scene, the accused was temporarily transferred to York Correction Institution in Niantic, Connecticut’s primary facility for women in state custody.

Her case is scheduled to be heard at Bridgeport Superior Court, Geographical Area 2, located at 172 Golden Hill Street. According to the booking paperwork, she is due in court on April 20, 2026, at 9 a.m., with a subsequent court date listed as April 30. At arraignment, a judge will formally review the charges, reconsider bond, and set the next steps in the case.

Some Context on the Charges

For readers unfamiliar with Connecticut’s criminal code, a few of these charges are worth a closer look. Carrying a pistol without a permit under C.G.S. 29-35 is a felony in Connecticut that can carry up to five years in prison. The large-capacity magazine charge stems from a state law enacted after the Sandy Hook shooting, which prohibits the sale or transfer of magazines holding more than ten rounds, with limited grandfathering exceptions. First-degree reckless endangerment, meanwhile, requires prosecutors to show that the accused acted with “extreme indifference to human life” in creating a risk of serious injury — a higher bar than the second-degree version of the offense.

Taken together, the charges paint the picture of a case that moved quickly from a local hit-and-run report to a multi-agency highway pursuit with potential felony exposure. But charges are only allegations. The accused is presumed innocent unless and until the state proves its case in court.

A Note on Public Records

The Criminal Information Summary released by the Connecticut State Police is a standard public document produced under the Freedom of Information Act, and it reflects only the police department’s initial version of events as reported by the arresting trooper and approved by a supervising sergeant. Details — including charges — can shift as cases move through the court system. Some charges may be dropped at arraignment, others may be added, and ultimately a judge or jury, not a trooper’s report, will decide what is proven and what is not.

For now, though, the document stands as a snapshot of a chaotic stretch of highway on a Friday night in April, and of the work it took to bring a fleeing vehicle to a stop somewhere between the Stamford line and Bridgeport.

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