A 34-year-old New Havener has been arrested for allegedly fleeing the scene in his car after striking and critically injuring a bicyclist on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard near Adeline Street in the Hill. According to reports filed by various officers involved in the arrest, the driver confessed to cr ashing into the bicyclist — and said he left the scene because he was afraid and didn’t know what to do, and that he expected police would find him at his home. The New Haven Police Department (NHPD) posted a press release to the social media site X on Wednesday about that arrest. State court records show that the driver, Nazir Said-Agha, has been charged with evading responsibility and is currently being held on a $150,000 bond. The NHPD’s press release states that, at 12:33 p.m. on Tuesday, city police officers responded to the 500 block of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard for the report of a bicyclist struck by a vehicle. The offending car had fled the scene following the collision. Upon arrival, officers found a male victim “in the middle of the road suffering from significant injuries.” A reporting officer narrative filed by Officer Kelvin Mitchell Jr. states that, when officers arrived, an EMT from Old Lyme was rendering aid to the injured man before American Medial Response (AMR) EMTs arrived and took over. The victim was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. As of Wednesday morning’s press release, the victim had yet to be identified by police. Witnesses reportedly told city cops that they observed a black Toyota Corolla strike the victim and then continue traveling south. The Old Lyme EMT said that he was traveling south on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard when he observed several individuals crowding around the unconscious man in the street. The EMT said he immediately turned on his vehicle’s blue lights and then began rendering aid to the injured man. The EMT said he did not witness the crash itself. Another witness told the cops that he was traveling northbound on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard when he heard a crash take place behind him. He said he performed a U-turn and saw the injured man unconscious in the road as well as a black Toyota Corolla traveling southbound away from the injured man’s body. Officers working alongside colleagues in the city’s Real Time Crime Center were able to track down the car to the 300 block of Winthrop Avenue. The car reportedly had “significant damage and evidence consistent with striking the victim.” A case supplemental report filed by Officer Joseph Staffieri states that the car appeared to have “recent damage to the front bumper, front hood, as well as the front windshield.” City cops identified Said-Agha as the registered owner of the car. Said-Agha arrived at his Winthrop Avenue home at around 1:05 p.m., according to a case supplement report filed by Officer Alejandro Rodriguez. Another case supplement report, filed by Officer Aron Ntokaiti, stated that Said-Agha primarily spoke Pashto, and that a store clerk helped cops with translation. Said-Agha reportedly first said that he had not been driving the car and that the car had not been moved on that date, according to Rodriguez’s report. After Rodriguez told him that surveillance footage showed Said-Agha’s car at the scene of the Ella T. Grasso Boulevard crash, he reportedly “confessed to striking the [bicyclist] and leaving the scene.” According to Rodriguez, Said-Agha said that he had just filled up at a nearby gas station and was driving south on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard. The bicyclist was in the middle of the road. Said-Agha said that, prior to striking the bicyclist, “there were two other vehicles in front of him that avoided hitting the bicyclist by moving out of the bicyclist’s path.” Said-Agha then said that, after the other vehicle moved out of the bicyclist’s path, “he struck the bicyclist with his vehicle.” He said he felt “scared and afraid” after the crash. City cops then put Said-Agha in handcuffs and transported him to police headquarters at 1 Union Ave. to be interviewed. Ntokaiti’s report states that Said-Agha agreed to speak with the cops at police headquarters. With the help of a Pashto interpreter, Said-Agha said that, earlier in the day, he had stopped at Best Gas Station on the Boulevard to refuel his vehicle. He then left the gas station and proceeded towards Long Wharf. He said that, while traveling in the right lane, he observed an individual with a bicycle attempting to cross the roadway. “He stated that the cyclist nearly collided with another vehicle before moving into his lane.” He said he then observed the cyclist “on the ‘bonnet’ (hood) of his vehicle.” Said-Agha said he “became scared after the incident and did not know what to do, particularly due to his inability to speak English. He stated that he drove back to his residence and believed that the police would locate him there.” Police subsequently arrested Said-Agha for evading responsibility resulting in serious physical injury. “Our thoughts are with the victim as he sustained serious injuries, and we hope he is able to recover quickly from this incident,” Acting Police Chief David Zannelli is quoted as saying in Wednesday’s press release. He thanked the officers, detectives, and crime analysts “who worked expeditiously to locate the offender and make an arrest within hours of the incident.” The post Driver Arrested For Hill Hit-And-Run appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less