Police: Shoplifting suspect flees officers, hits car in Greenwich

GREENWICH — A man from the Bronx, N.Y., is due in court May 13 to face multiple charges after he allegedly struck another vehicle during a police chase, sending two people to the hospital, and ultimately flipping over his vehicle, according to his arrest report.

Officers were called to the business district in central Greenwich on Friday afternoon on a report of a shoplifter targeting stores on Mason Street and Lewis Street, police said.

“Officers checking the area located a new, packaged and ready-for-sale bag on the ground near a car parked on Greenwich Avenue. It was later determined that the bag, valued at $2,350, had been stolen from a nearby store,” according to the arrest report.

Officers were notified about a commotion and discovered that the suspect was involved in another attempted theft at a nearby store, police said, and the suspect took off in a white Honda with North Carolina plates.

The car accelerated on Mason Street, with officers following at a distance, police said.

The Honda struck another car on Patterson Avenue near Greenwich Academy, and its two occupants were taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, police said.

The Honda later slammed into a telephone pole at Lake Avenue and Carleton Street, causing it to roll over, police said.

The suspect fled the scene, running through a residential backyard and jumping over a fence in the area before he was apprehended, police said.

Jose Andre Cepeda, 25, of Boynton Ave., the Bronx, was charged with reckless driving, engaging in a police pursuit and evading responsibility. He was also ticketed for failing to drive right and failing to obey a stop sign, and was cited for driving a car without insurance.

For the alleged thefts in central Greenwich, he was charged with third-degree larceny, a felony, and sixthdegree larceny, a misdemeanor, and resisting arrest.

Bail was set at $3,000.