Suspect turns himself in
Body camera footage reveals moment Naugatuck sergeant opened fire at charging car
The man shot at by a Naugatuck police sergeant earlier this week turned himself in to police early Friday morning, just hours after investigators released body camera footage of him fleeing that traffic stop and knocking the sergeant to the ground. Roznovsky Machado, 24, of Waterbury, was arrested on more than a half-dozen charges, including criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault, seconddegree assault, assault on a police officer and engaging police in pursuit, police said.
The man shot at by a Naugatuck police sergeant earlier this week turned himself in to police early Friday morning, just hours after investigators released body camera footage of him fleeing that traffic stop and knocking the sergeant to the ground.
Roznovsky Machado, 24, of Waterbury, was arrested on more than a half-dozen charges, including criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault, second-degree assault, assault on a police officer and engaging police in pursuit, police said.
Machado had escaped the traffic stop and was at large until he turned himself in for arrest at 3:30 a.m. Friday at the Naugatuck Police Department. For days, police did not know if he had been wounded by the gunfire, but they said Friday morning that he was not injured.
Naugatuck police Deputy Chief C. Colin McAllister said Friday he believes Machado’s friends and family encouraged him to surrender to police just 9 ½ hours after the release of body camera footage of the incident Monday night. He added that detectives conducted an early morning interview with Machado after his arrest, but he would not disclose any additional details about what Machado told police about the incident.
“In the preceding several days, our detectives have been working to establish lines of dialogue with family members, associates, other contacts in the community,” McCallister said. “It’s my belief that as a result of that, he was finally convinced by those associates and family members to voluntarily surrender after learning of the warrant of his arrest.
Body camera video from two officers shows the moment a police sergeant was knocked to the ground and opened fire on Machado as he fled a traffic stop on a Route 8 on-ramp.
Fairfield State’s Attorney Joseph T. Corradino released the body camera footage and several new details about the shooting Thursday evening while his office and Connecticut State Police detectives continue to review the sergeant’s decision to fire his service weapon.
The incident began just before 8 p.m. Monday when Officer Kevin Zainc witnessed what he believed to be a handto-hand drug deal involving a man driving an orange Dodge Charger and then proceeded to pull the vehicle over at the on-ramp to Route 8 north at Maple Street.
Zainc had a brief and cordial conversation with Machado, who gave his name but told police he did not have identification, footage and audio from Zainc’s body camera shows. Machado told Zainc the car was a rental and denied he had been involved in a drug transaction while Sgt. Nicholas Kehoss arrived at the scene.
“He’s going to take off,” Zainc told Kehoss as he walks back to his patrol car, the body camera footage captures.
The officers agreed Kehoss should move his marked SUV patrol car to try to block the Charger in.
After Kehoss parked diagonally in front of Machado, both officers exited their vehicles almost simultaneously to approach the Charger. That is when, just three minutes into the incident, the Charger began to move in reverse.
“Yo, don’t do it, don’t do it,” Zainc shouted.
The car then accelerated forward and
into the right rear of Kehoss’ SUV as the sergeant rounded the corner on the left rear of the vehicle.
Kehoss’ body camera captured the instant he sees around the corner of his SUVas the Charger accelerated toward him, tires squealing. Kehoss drew his weapon and fired once as the Charger struck the SUV, knocking Kehoss to his back on the pavement, both officers’ body cameras show.
Kehoss appears to fire twice more at the vehicle as it drove past him, briefly off-road under the elevated portion of Route 8 before returning to the on-ramp and speeding off north on the highway.
Both officers quickly returned to their vehicles and began to pursue Machado up Route 8, calling in the shots fired and crime scene to dispatchers, but the Charger already was out of sight.
“I’m all right. He knocked me down, tried to run me over. ... We’re going Route 8 north,” Kehoss told dispatchers on his in-car radio. “Call the [state police] troop. I shot at the vehicle. He tried to run me over. Have somebody block off the on-ramp on Maple Street, that’s a crime scene now.”
Kehoss and Zainc never caught up with the Charger but asked dispatchers to alert Waterbury police that Machado and the vehicle might have been in the area of North Main Street, according to the audio captured by their body cameras.
Officers checked the area but neither Machado nor the car were immediately found Monday night. Officers eventually found the Charger the next day on Vine Street in Waterbury.
Investigators have confirmed that only Kehoss fired his weapon but Corradino’s initial report reveals few other details about the shooting and does not specify exactly howmany shots were fired.
Kehoss suffered minor injuries during the incident but was evaluated and promptly released from a local hospital on Monday night, police officials have said.
Both officers are veterans of the Naugatuck police department — Kehoss has served for 10 years and Zainc for 15 years and three months, state police said.
Kehoss has been placed on an administrative assignment while the investigation continues, per Naugatuck police policies, officials said.
Machado was arraigned Friday morning in Superior Court in Waterbury and was held on $350,000 bond, police said.