Hartford man killed after his SUV is broadsided by stolen car

A man was fatally injured Saturday afternoon after a sedan stolen from Colchester barreled through a Hartford intersection and hit his SUV broadside, police said.

Police caught two people from the stolen car and are looking for two more.

The man killed in the crash was identified late Saturday as 44-year-old Jose Mendoza of Hartford.

At least four people were in a silver four-door Chrysler that slammed into a dark SUV at Broad and Grand streets about 12:45 p.m., police said. The impact sent the SUV into a parking lot, where it smashed into a parked car.

Rescue crews worked for more than 15 minutes to help Mendoza, who was trapped in the SUV. Firefighters freed him and performed CPR before an ambulance took him to Hartford Hospital. Police announced later that he had died.

Officers took two people from the Chrysler and put them in the back of a patrol car. One, a man, was later brought out to sit on an ambulance stretcher near the sidewalk while emergency medical technicians checked for injuries.

Officer Tyrell Jenkins told reporters that two people who’d been in the Chrysler were quickly taken into custody, but two others fled. He could provide no further information, but said investigators are looking for them.

A half-dozen police cars, three ambulances and a fire engine showed up at the scene, and police taped off the intersection within minutes. When the severity of the wreck became clear, police put more tape further back, significantly expanding the crime scene.

Investigators were still reconstructing the wreck at mid-afternoon and had shut down Grand Street between Hungerford and Lawrence streets. Broad Street between Russ and Park streets was also closed, and as of 3 p.m. the damaged vehicles had not been towed.

“This is still a very active investigation, and some of the details are fluid,” Jenkins said.

An initial report suggested the stolen car was evading police, but Lt. Paul Cicero said it appears the vehicle, driving recklessly, passed a police car and then crashed almost immediately.

By late evening, investigators had left the area, but police said the probe was on-going.

This is the latest incident in which juveniles behind the wheel of stolen cars have crashed, leading to a fatality. Last month, a 17-year-old Hartford boy was killed when the car he was in, which was stolen in Madison, crashed amid a high-speed police chase.

For the past several years, police officials across Connecticut have been warning about brazen car thefts by juveniles. They have been urging state legislators to change the law so that juveniles with two or more convictions have their car theft charges automatically transferred to adult court, where they would face harsher punishment.

Car theft is the only crime category in the juvenile system to increase in the last decade, while other categories have seen sharp drops. Juvenile justice advocates have opposed the idea of automatic transfers to adult court, saying that the system in place can handle the cases.

Last week, a 19-year-old from Hartford were arrested after a car stolen in the city led police officers in Rhode Island on a chase that ended when it crashed into the gate of singer Taylor Swift’s Westerly, R.I., home. It was one of the first stolen car cases involving juveniles crossing state lines, according to authorities.

Often, juveniles steal cars that are left unlocked with keys inside or with keyless ignition, authorities have said. Other times, the cars are stolen while idling in driveways on cold mornings. In recent months, police departments across the state have taken to social media to remind drivers to lock their cars at night.

Don Stacom can be reached at dstacom@courant.com.