Police: Reckless Unlicensed Driver Captured After Two Wrecks

West Hartford Police arrested a Hartford man who fled the scene of one wreck Thursday afternoon and subsequently ran several red lights and blew through several stop signs before his vehicle was halted when it hit the stop sign at the intersection of Trout Brook Dr. and Warwick St.

The accused, whose spree took him right in front of the West Hartford Police station at 103 Raymond Rd., had failed to pass a road test earlier in the day and did not have a valid driver's license, police said.

According to police, Brandon Morales, 19, of 88 Irving St., Hartford, who was driving a 2002 Nissan Maxima, first hit a black Chevrolet Suburban being driven by West Hartford resident Joseph Sousa on South Main St. and Pelham Rd.

Police said that according to witnesses, Morales fled the scene of that crash, continued north on South Main St., recklessly turned right onto Burr St., and blew through the stop sign turning left onto Raymond Rd.

Sousa followed Morales, but police said that he gave up because "Morales' driving was so reckless." According to police, another witness said he almost struck her at the intersection of Raymond and Burr.

Morales then headed north on Raymond Rd., right past the police station. Police said that witnesses reported that he ran through all of the red lights in Blue Back Square, crossed the double yellow line and traveled on the wrong side of the road, passing other vehicles.

According to police, Morales turned right, heading east onto Farmington Ave., and then turned left and headed north on Trout Brook Dr.

After receiving calls two calls "almost simultaneously for an evading accident at South Main/Pelham and a car speeding east on Farmington Ave dragging parts and running red lights and stop signs," police said they found Morales and his heavily damaged car, "crashed again, into two town signs at Trout Brook/Warwick St."

According to police, during the at-scene investigation, a Connecticut DMV form for a Driver's License Road Test Evaluation Report was found in Morales' car, indicating that Morales had failed his road test at the Wethersfield DMV at 10:41 a.m. Thursday. He was arrested at 2:58 p.m. that same day.

The police report states, "The form clearly indicated that the driver, Brandon Morales, failed his DMV Driver's License Road Test this morning due to multiple violations. These violations documented by the DMV Inspector included: 'K turn needs work,' 'Did not make the correct choice when exitting Department of Labor lot,' 'Turned onto wrong side of road when exiting DOL lot into oncoming traffic,' 'Rolling stops.'"

Morales has been charged with evading responsibility, red light violation, stop sign violation, failure to drive right, second-degree reckless endangerment, improper passing, driving without a license, passing on the right, improper turn, reckless driving, and traveling unreasonably fast.

Police said that thankfully no one was injured.

He is being held on $2,500 bond.