Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect an additional charge filed on May 8.
NAUGATUCK — A Seymour man is facing multiple charges after police say he tried to pick up a 14-year-old girl, hit one of the girl’s friends with a truck and then rear-ended a car as he fled the scene May 5.
Police said the girl was walking with a friend on Hillside Avenue near Hillside Intermediate School shortly after 4 p.m. when a man, later identified as 27-year-old Brendan Burns, drove up to them in a black Chevy pickup truck and asked the teens if they needed a ride.
Shortly after, police said, the 14-year-old girl was walking alone in the area when Burns approached her again and asked if she needed a ride. Burns also asked the girl if she had a boyfriend and smoked, police said.
Burns then turned his car around to give the girl his phone number, police said. The girl ran to the basketball court at Salem School, which is down the hill from Hillside School, and told a group of people she knew playing basketball that she was being followed.
A group of the girl’s male friends confronted Burns as he was parked in the parking lot of Hillside School, police said. The group approached Burns, who got out of his truck with a baseball bat and threatened the teens, police said. Burns got back in his truck, put it in reverse and struck an 18-year-old man before fleeing the scene, police said. The man sustained minor injuries and was not hospitalized.
Burns then rear-ended a car at the intersection of Meadow Street and Rubber Avenue as he was speeding away and fled the scene of this accident, too, police said.
Witnesses provided police with a description of the truck and the license plate number. Police identified Burns’ address as 2 Fawn Hollow Drive in Seymour and called Seymour police for assistance.
Seymour officers went to Burns’ house where they saw his truck, but he was not home. Seymour police began receiving calls that Burns was running through nearby properties. Seymour officers ran after Burns in nearby woods and quickly caught him, police said.
Burns was charged with threatening, second-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree stalking, loitering on school grounds, two counts of breach of peace, two counts of evading responsibility and was given a ticket for failure to drive a safe distance apart.
He was released on a $25,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned May 13 at Waterbury Superior Court.
The incident near Hillside School wasn’t the first time on May 5 Burns approached a juvenile girl walking, according to police.
Shortly before the incident at Hillside School played out, police said, Burns approached a 17-year-old girl walking on Millville Avenue, which intersects with Hillside Avenue. Naugatuck police spokesman Lt. Bryan Cammarata said Burns turned his truck around and asked the 17-year-old girl if she wanted a ride three times. The girl repeatedly told him no and kept on walking, Cammarata said, and Burns drove off.
The 17-year-old girl recognized Burns from media coverage of the events at Hillside School on May 6, Cammarata said, and reported the incident to police on May 7. Police obtained an arrest warrant for Burns, who turned himself in to police on May 8. He was charged with breach of peace.
Burns was released on a $1,000 non-surety bond on this charge and is scheduled to appear May 13 in Waterbury Superior Court.
The Republican-American contributed to this article.
