Police: Driver flees after New Fairfield traffic stop

NEW FAIRFIELD — A Tuesday night traffic stop led to weapon and drug charges for a Danbury man and an ongoing search for the driver of the vehicle in which he was riding.

Troopers stopped a vehicle for speeding in the area of Route 39 and Knollcrest Road around 8 p.m.

State police said initial contact with the driver and passenger led to further investigation, during which the passenger “abruptly exited the vehicle and attempted to flee the scene on foot.”

Following a “brief struggle,” police said the passenger — Guido Bruno Alves, 20, of Danbury — was taken into custody and found to be in possession of an illegal handgun and a controlled substance.

State police did not specify the type of illegal substance found.

During the struggle to apprehend the passenger, authorities said the driver fled the scene in the vehicle, traveling north toward Sherman.

State police did not provide any information on the description of the vehicle or driver.

Alves was transported to Connecticut State Police’s Troop A barracks in Southbury, where he was processed and charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and resisting/interfering with an officer.

He was held on a $200,000 bond and scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at state Superior Court in Danbury.

“This incident remains under investigation,” state police spokesperson Trooper First Class Sarah Salerno said Thursday morning.