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The driver of a stolen box truck crashed into 12 cars and a school bus with Stamford High students on board, a spree that left him and one woman he struck in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at Stamford Hospital, according to published reports.
Police said the truck's driver had a fight with his girlfriend and took the truck from his employer on Elm Street. The driver is a 30-year-old Stamford resident, but police did not release his name. Stamford Fire and Rescue had to extract the man from the truck after the final crash into the school bus. His injuries were described as life threatening.
According to Police Capt. Brian McElligott, "The guy hit everything he could hit."
At least a dozen students on the bus were taken to Stamford Hospital with minor injuries and released after the multivehicle accident along Myrtle Avenue and East Main Street on the city's East Side. The hospital reported nearly two-dozen people with minor injuries were treated in connection with the incident.
The incident began when the truck was taken from the employer's lot on Elm Street and then raced through the rear gate of the CTTransit bus maintenance facility. The truck crashed through the gate and headed north on Myrtle Avenue before turning west on East Main Street, according to published reports.
The driver hit cars, signs and parking meters during his rampage at about 2 p.m., according to witnesses.
The accident shut down a quarter-mile stretch of East Main Street from Glenbrook Road to Myrtle Avenue for about five hours, causing major traffic congestion throughout downtown into rush hour.
No charges had yet been filed. The incident remained under investigation Tuesday night.
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