Police: Street takeovers take place in Shelton, Milford

Police in four southern Connecticut towns responded to street takeovers on Saturday, including one incident with 1,500 cars in North Haven that left holiday shoppers stranded in parking lots and clogged Interstate 91.

In Shelton, more than 500 cars congregated, while police in West Haven and Milford dealt with similar incidents.

In North Haven, police were using social media to warn drivers away from Universal Drive, where a “large group of vehicles” assembled Saturday night in what appeared to be a street takeover. Federal, state, and local law enforcement were involved in trying to get the group to disperse, officials said.

About 1,500 cars from multiple states with spectators who lined Universal Drive to watch while the busy roadway was completely shut down and holiday shoppers were stuck in parking lots with no way to leave, North Haven police said in a Facebook post. “Interstate 91 was also backed up in both directions for over a mile,” the post said.

Police had difficulty responding to calls for service on Universal Drive including a medical emergency and an assault due to the number of vehicles that jammed the roadway and parking lots, North Haven police said.

Officers from Meriden, Wallingford, Hamden, West Haven, Branford and the state police had to be called in to help with the incident, North Haven police said.

In Shelton, hundreds of cars, many from surrounding states, showed up at a street takeover on Saturday night but were turned away with police bringing in local, state, and federal agencies to help disburse the crowd, according to local Detective Richard Bango.

Shelton police learned of a street takeover that was planned to take place Saturday night in the area of Research Drive, Bango said. Local police mobilized with state police, federal officials, Milford, Orange, Derby, and Trumbull police departments along the Bridgeport Avenue corridor and in the area of Research Drive, he said.

At 8 p.m., approximately 500 vehicles arrived in Shelton, Bango said. “Some of the vehicles traveled from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont for this event,” he said. “When the vehicles arrived at Research Drive business parking lots they were turned away. The group then attempted to plan alternative parking lots to gather along Bridgeport Avenue using social media.”

Several infractions were issued to drivers and some vehicles were towed, he said. No criminal arrests were made in Shelton, Bango said.

Police in West Haven arrested six people who took part in a street takeover early Saturday morning and Milford police said they are looking for suspects after a takeover in their town.

West Haven police said officers were made aware of the incident after numerous people called 911 to report people standing in the road and cars doing “doughnuts” in the street.

The takeover occurred in the area of Boston Post Road and Campbell Avenue around 2 a.m., West Haven police said in a Facebook post.

Anyone with information on the Milford street takeover can call Master Sgt. Douglass Youd at 203-7834728 or 203-878-6551.

Staff writers Richard Chumney and Austin Mirmina contributed to this story.

Milford Police Department/Contributed photo Milford Police are looking for the identities of several people involved in a street takeover early Saturday.