#Bridgeport News: On Thursday, I was the first to tell you at 5:50pm about a man on McKinley Avenue who returned home from work and was robbed at gunpoint in a dark blue Toyota SUV. What was taken included a gold chain, $18 in cash, and a bag of Skittles.
A short time later at around 6:10pm, police located a vehicle matching that description on Kossuth Street on the east side. Police attempted to pull the vehicle over a number of times. The vehicle, a Toyota 4 Runner, drove through side streets at a high rate of speed according to Bridgeport Police Chief AJ Perez. The car then entered Route 8/25 northbound. The Toyota 4 Runner that the suspect was in was reported stolen out of Southport. The owner of the vehicle admitted the car was left unlocked and that the key fob was left in the glove compartment.
The Toyota traveled on Route 8/25 past exit 5 and then turned towards the valley on Route 8 northbound at the split. The state police accident report said the vehicle veered left towards the median, over-corrected, then “yawed” to the left lane into the right lane, and the right shoulder of the roadway. While on the shoulder, the vehicle collided with a metal guardrail on the right shoulder where it went airborne, impacted two trees and overturned.
Eighteen-year-old Corbin Cooper of Trumbull Avenue, Bridgeport, was ejected from the front passenger seat. He was pronounced dead from his injuries. Back in April, Cooper was shot in the chest outside PT Barnum Housing. In a report filed by Frank Recchia of News12, the grandmother credited a passerby who took Cooper in their personal car to the hospital with saving her grandson’s life.
After the crash, one suspect fled the scene to Beardsley Park but was quickly apprehended by police. There were two people trapped inside the vehicle, and police had to protect the firefighters and EMS workers since the firearm used in the robbery was not accounted for at the time.
The state police accident report identified the driver as fifteen-year-old Louis Valentine of Bridgeport and passengers Luke Jones, 18, of Bridgeport, and Najee Hunter, 16, of Stratford. Valentine received minor injuries, while Jones and Hunter had more serious injuries.
The highway was shut down for a number of hours for the accident investigation.
