A man was arrested on Saturday morning after the Berlin Police Department used a tire deflation device to stop his vehicle and prevent a pursuit, police said.
Efrain Justinano-Santiago Jr., 26, had outstanding warrants and was taken into custody by Berlin police shortly before 8:30 a.m. Officers recognized the white Cadillac that previously fled from Newington and Berlin police, police said.
Justinano-Santiago had previous warrants for a pair of previous incidents of allegedly engaging police in pursuit, reckless driving and other motor vehicle charges with court-set bonds of $50,000 and $35,000, respectively, according to the Berlin Police Department.
With Justinano-Santiago’s alleged history of reckless driving and engaging in pursuit, officers disabled the vehicle with a tire deflation device and boxed it in to prevent him from escaping, police said.
Justinano-Santiago allegedly attempted to escape and rammed two police vehicles; a third police vehicle sustained minor damage during the box in, police said.
After Justinano-Santiago was removed from the vehicle, police discovered two toddler-aged children in the rear seat. Police said they were not aware the children were in the vehicle until the suspect was removed from the vehicle, due to heavy window tint.
Police said one of the children was not properly secured in their child seat and the other was not in a child seat at all.
Justinano-Santiago is charged with engaging police in pursuit, reckless driving, two counts of criminal attempt to commit assault in the second degree, two counts of criminal attempt to commit assault on police officers and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.
Justinano-Santiago is also facing other motor vehicle charges. He was being held on a $165,000 bond for the new charges, plus the outstanding warrants, for total surety bonds of $250,000, according to the Berlin Police Department.