Police: ‘Good Samaritans’ stop wrong-way driver
STAMFORD – A car driving the wrong way on a crowded, narrow street in downtown Stamford was thwarted by two “good Samaritans” who stood in front of the vehicle and blocked the driver’s path forward Thursday night, according to police.
Sgt. Jose Alvarez said Richard Orellana, 47, of Stamford, was driving the wrong way down Summer Street around 8:35 p.m. Thursday when bystanders saw and intervened.
Emily Gordon, her husband and a friend saw the ordeal unfold as they sat for dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Gordon told The Stamford Advocate that the three watched as one man stepped in front of the car as it turned out of a nearby parking garage and tried to drive the wrong way down Summer Street.
“The guy just stood there the whole time,” Gordon said. “The car kept inching toward him and kept putting pressure on the guy. The driver kept revving his engine like he was going to hit the guy. It was just really crazy.”
The bystander stood his ground in front of the car for 15 to 20 minutes, Gordon said, and eventually a second man came to the first man’s aid. Together, the two placed a metal barrier from a nearby restaurant in front of the car to impede its path forward, police said.
The two men remained standing in front of the car until police arrived on the scene and took over. By the time police arrived, Gordon said nearly 50 bystanders were standing by the roadside and watching.
Alvarez said officers found three empty 40-ounce
malt liquor bottles inside of Orellana’s car, along with empty baggies sitting in his front sea that they investigated for possible cocaine.
Orellana, who Alvarez said was unable to stand under his own power and “was combative” with officers, eventually was arrested on charges of drinking
while driving, driving under the influence, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and driving the wrong way on a one-way street.
In the wake of the arrest, Gordon commended the man who had stepped in front of Orellana’s car, calling him “a hero.”
“All he had to do was
swerve a little and he could’ve taken a lot of people out and hurt someone,” said Gordon. “It’s scary, because now I’m looking back and thinking ‘Wow, he really could have run us over.’”
Orellana is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond. He is expected to appear in court on Aug. 16.