Man flees crash scene with his dog: police

WALLINGFORD — A Meriden driver fled the scene of an accident with his Chihuahua late Saturday night after colliding with another driver, police said.

Jonathan Quiones, 21, of Meriden, was charged with multiple counts after allegedly his car rear-ended another car while traveling on South Colony Road.

Police came upon the incident in a nearby parking lot were the vehicles had both stopped after sustaining moderate to heavy damage, police said. Quiones ran away carrying his dog which had been in the car with him during the crash. Police apprehended him shortly thereafter on Washington

Street, about a mile away from the crash, the release said.

Wallingford resident Carmelita Pestana, 47, had just left a residential driveway traveling north when her Jeep Renegade was hit from behind by Quinoes, who was driving a Nissan Altima, police said. An officer on patrol came upon her in the parking lot. She and her 23-yearold passenger were both taken in an ambulance to Midstate Medical Center for nonlife-threatening injuries they sustained in the crash.

Quinones was charged with driving while intoxicated, evading responsibility, failure to maintain insurance, misuse of marker plates, operating a motor vehicle without a license and driving too close.

He is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court July 27and was released on $5,000 bail.