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On Sunday, Feb. 12, around 2:50 a.m., multiple state troopers were parked on the shoulder of Route 8 in Litchfield County while both assisting with a disabled vehicle and conducting a traffic stop in the town of Litchfield.
During this time, the officer who was helping the disabled vehicle saw a blue Jeep Patriot traveling towards them at a high speed in the right lane.
The Jeep then remained in the right lane while passing the parked state troopers, a violation of Connecticut's "Move Over" law, police said.
One of the troopers then merged back on Route 8 and went after the Jeep, then seeing it pass other cars on the right while traveling over 100 mph.
Troopers then pulled the Jeep over near Exit 44 in Torrington and identified the driver as 25-year-old Torrington resident Jose Torres-Jimenez, who had an adult learner's permit. When speaking with Torres-Jimenez and the other adult occupant of the car during the traffic stop, police suspected that he was not sober and had him take a sobriety test, which he failed.
Torres-Jimenez was then arrested and the Jeep was towed away from the scene. Torres-Jimenez is charged with the following:
- Operating under the influence of drugs/alcohol;
- Reckless driving;
- Passing on the right;
- Failure to move over or reduce speed for emergency vehicles.
Torres-Jimenez was later released on a $500 non-surety bond. He will be arraigned in Torrington Superior Court on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
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