A man crashed into a gate and drove across a runway at Tweed New Haven Airport on Tuesday morning while fleeing from police, according to New Haven police.
Tim Larson, the executive director of the airport, said New Haven police were pursuing a person of interest who was in the process of returning a rental car around 11:30 a.m. and the person crashed the gate when he learned he was being pursued.
New Haven police confirmed that officers were trying to capture 31-year-old Alphonzo Dixon of Hamden, who was wanted on several warrants for crimes including sexual assault, assault, and domestic violence involving a firearm.
According to police, officers spotted Dixon in a rental car in downtown New Haven and followed him to the car rental return office outside of Tweed New Haven Airport.
Police said Dixon did not get out of the car at the office, and officers tried to stop Dixon's vehicle as he began to drive off. Dixon crashed into an unmarked NHPD vehicle then crashed through a chain-link fence onto the airport runway, police said. Dixon continued to flee and crashed through a second fence onto Dodge Avenue in East Haven. The airport briefly closed the runway during the incident.
Officers continued to follow Dixon, who fled the airport and drove onto the interstate before exiting in West Haven. At some point, Dixon got out of the car and continued on foot, police said.
Woodbridge police said the incident ended at the Amity Shopping Center, which borders the town, and patrol officers and detectives from Woodbridge and other agencies responded to the area and provided assistance.
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New Haven police arrested Dixon at the plaza after he was spotted in the passenger seat of another vehicle. Police said they seized narcotics from both vehicles.
Dixon faces charges from Tuesday's incident, the New Haven warrants, and a Hamden Police Department warrant.
