New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Man sentenced to 14 years for forcing woman to drive him to N.J. at gunpoint
A New Haven man who was arrested after forcing his then-girlfriend at gunpoint to drive him from Connecticut to New Jersey in 2019 was sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday, a New Jersey prosecutor said.
Miguel Angel-Villegas, 31, of New Haven, was sentenced to 14 years in New Jersey state prison in connection with an incident that occured in November 2019 in Tuckerton, N.J., according to a release from the office of Orange County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. Angel-Villegas previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder in August.
The 2019 incident occurred when a Tuckerton police officer performed a traffic stop on a vehicle occupied by Angel-Villegas, who was the passenger, and Angel-Villegas’ girlfriend, who was driving the vehicle.
During the stop, the car pulled away at a high rate of speed and collided with another vehicle. Angel-Villegas then exited the vehicle and used a firearm to fire at the officer before fleeing on foot. He was later apprehended just outside of Penn Station in New York City.
Detectives from the prosecutor’s office said that Angel-Villegas had ordered his then-girlfriend to give the officer at the traffic stop a false name, since he believed he was wanted on a parole violation in Connecticut. Angel-Villegas then forced his girlfriend to speed away from the officer during the traffic stop.
Angel-Villegas will be required to serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence before he could be considered for parole, the prosecutor’s office said.
Angel-Villegas has been in the Ocean County Jail since his return to New Jersey.