Woman f led in wrecked vehicle after crash, cops say

MIDDLETOWN >> A Hartford woman is facing more than a halfdozen charges after police say she caused an accident on Route 9 involving two other vehicles, then fled the scene in her heavily damaged car but was followed and eventually arrested.

Police were called to a crash on Route 9 south near Hartford Avenue on March 10 at 2 p.m. involving a Chevrolet Silverado and a Ford F-350. Both drivers told officers that a small black Honda, that had since left the area, had run the red light in the southbound lane, hit the Ford’s driver’s side panel and caused it to slide into the Chevrolet, according to the police report.

The Honda made a U-turn and the driver took off, according to the report. The driver of the Ford told officers that the Honda was being driven by a woman who had two passengers in her car.

Soon after, dispatchers informed police that another witness to the accident had called

911 to say she was following the suspect’s vehicle and offered a plate number. That person told police she had seen the F-350 “lurch into the air” and slide into the front of the Silverado. According to the report, the witness saw the Honda, which was heavily damaged and smoking, flee the scene. As her light turned green, she took off after the driver, police said. She followed the Honda until she saw state police pull up and pull the car over.

The driver of the Honda — Shabela Santiago, 33, of Lawrence Street, Hartford — was stopped on Route 9 north in Kensington, near Exit 24, and denied involvement in the crash, according to police.

Santiago told officers she had left the crash scene because she was scared and “got lost,” according to the report.

Police say she is a felon with convictions for narcotics possession and sale of hallucinogens/narcotics.

She was charged with reckless driving, evading responsibility, driving an unregistered vehicle, failure to carry insurance, improper use of a marker plate, making a restricted turn, failure to obey a traffic signal and driving without a license. Santiago was initially held on a $25,000 bond and then released on a promise to appear in court on March 20 following her arraignment.