A man was arrested on DUI and other charges over the weekend for allegedly bypassing a temporary roadblock state police set up on Interstate 84 in Hartford, nearly hitting a cruiser before coming inches away from striking a trooper who was on foot removing debris from the highway.
Two troopers set up the temporary block on I-84 West near Exit 47 around 2:30 a.m. Saturday to clear debris in the left lane, according to Connecticut State Police.
The troopers conducted a “slow roll” where they slowed their cruisers down with lights and sirens on before stopping to halt the traffic behind them. State police said one trooper got out to clear the debris as both cruisers blocked the highway.
As this was happening, a driver in a gray SUV reportedly bypassed the roadblock and nearly sideswiped one of the cruisers before coming within inches of striking the trooper who was on foot, state police said. The trooper was not injured.
Once the debris was cleared from the highway, one of the troopers tried to find the driver of the SUV as it continued west on I-84. Shortly thereafter, the vehicle was found and was determined to be a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
State police said a trooper tried pulling the driver over in the area of Exit 44 in West Hartford where the driver was failing to stay in the center lane. The driver did not immediately stop but eventually pulled over on the right shoulder, according to state police. The driver then allegedly reversed and nearly hit the police cruiser, state police said.
The second trooper then arrived in the area and blocked the Jeep driver from leaving.
The driver was identified as 23-year-old Jerry Chungong of New Britain. State police said he showed signs of impairment and admitted to having consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel.
Chungong failed field sobriety testing and was arrested on charges of disobeying the signal of an officer, illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs (second offense), failure to drive in the proper lane, failure to slow down or move over for emergency vehicle and first-degree reckless endangerment.
He was later released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in Hartford Superior Court on Dec. 20.