Police ID man shot by officer

After traffic stop, 18-year-old allegedly drove at officer

WETHERSFIELD – State police on Sunday identified an 18-year-old Wethersfield man as the person shot by a Wethersfield police officer after allegedly driving at an officer after fleeing a traffic stop.

Anthony Jose Vega Cruz of Treat Road remains in critical condition at Hartford Hospital, where he was taken after he was shot.

No one answered the door at Vega Cruz’s home Sunday afternoon. He lives about .3 mile from where the shooting occurred.

Police also identified a woman in the car when Vega Cruz was shot as Stephanie Santiago, 18, of Van Block Ave. in Hartford. She was not injured.

Members of Moral Monday Connecticut said Sunday they plan to demonstrate at the Wethersfield Police Department on Monday at 4 p.m.

The shooting occurred about 6 p.m. Saturday on Silas Deane Highway, just south of the Route 3 intersection.

It followed a traffic stop from which police and a witness say Vega Cruz fled, and then a collision between Vega Cruz’s car and a Wethersfield police vehicle in front

of 949 Silas Deane Highway.

“One officer exited his vehicle and the suspect’s vehicle drove towards that officer,” state police said in a statement released Saturday morning. The officer then fired at the car. Two rounds went through the driver’s side windshield. The car then rolled slowly to a stop in front of the Alpine Haus ski shop at 942 Silas Deane Highway.

Police treated Vega Cruz at the scene after pulling him from the car, and moments later an ambulance took him to Hartford Hospital.

The investigation was turned over to state police, who will report to New Britain State’s Attorney Brian Preleski.

Wethersfield police Chief James Cetran said Vega Cruz’s car was initially stopped because the license plate did not match the car and the officer suspected it was stolen.

The officers involved in the shooting have not been identified.

David Owens can be reached at dowens@courant.com.