West Haven police treating chase with retired cop as medical issue 2 officers were injured, driver was allegedly intoxicated

Police, at least one with gun drawn, at scene before a man lead them on a chase. Police, at least one with gun drawn, at scene before a man lead them on a chase. Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close West Haven police treating chase with retired cop as medical issue 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

WEST HAVEN >> The man involved in Tuesday’s chase that ended in a crash at Main Street and Painter Avenue, injuring two police officers, is a retired city cop, sources told the New Haven Register.

Police are treating the incident as a domestic and possible medical issue and are not releasing the name or address of the man involved, Deputy Chief Joseph Perno said Wednesday.

But they are trying to determine what led to the incident, he said.

Meanwhile, the New Haven Register obtained photographs of police with guns drawn at the scene where the incident began, suggesting that there may have been some sort of standoff that preceded the chase.

Perno said that contrary to some social media reports, there was no “shootout” or gunfire of any kind, but he confirmed that the man struck one police car with his vehicle as he left his driveway and another where the incident ended, as well as other vehicles along the way.

Asked whether there was any sort of armed standoff that preceded the despondent man fleeing, Perno declined to comment “because that’s part of the investigation.”

But he confirmed that “multiple” firearms — all handguns — later were seized and said “there was interaction between the officers and him at the home.”

Sources outside the department identified the armed man involved in the chase as a retired former West Haven police officer. Police arrested the man, but information on the charges he faces was not immediately available.

Officers at the scene knew the man, Perno said, but “could it have happened if we didn’t know him? Yes, it could have.”

Perno said of the decision to withhold the arrestee’s identity, “We would do this with anyone” with similar medical issues.

The Police Department, in a statement posted on its Facebook page, said police responded about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to a report of “a despondent male threatening to harm himself. As officers were arriving this male began driving away,” the statement says. “Police gave chase and an accident occurred at the intersection of Main Street and Painter Avenue.”

The police investigation is trying to determine “whether this was a one-time problem or whether” it is likely to be a continuing problem, Perno said.

According to Sgt. David Tammaro, the man allegedly was driving intoxicated. Tammaro said police knew of his condition and believed he was potentially suicidal.

The man was driving a pickup truck, and was boxed in by police on Main Street, Tammaro said.

The crash ended near the Valero gas station at Main Street and Kelsey Avenue.