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Martquise Dukes, 26, of 165 Spring St., is facing weapons, drug and police pursuit charges in connection with a Jan. 30 incident in which he is alleged to be the driver of a car that raced away from Stamford Police before crashing on Interstate 95.
At the time police had information Dukes was bringing up drugs and weapons from North Carolina, Capt. Richard Conklin said. When members of the Narcotics and Organized Crime (NOC) unit attempted to stop the rented North Carolina car on Richmond Hill Avenue, Dukes - who is alleged to be the driver - spun the car around and escaped and grazed the NOC vehicle, Conklin said.
The suspects drove on to Interstate 95 and police called off the pursuit due to the risk to the public, Conklin said. However, officers saw a cloud of dust in the distance and discovered that it was the rental vehicle that had left the roadway. One suspect, who was injured in the accident and was found hobbling down the embankment by police.
Three other individuals including Dukes, Conklin said, were able to escape. Police are seeking the two other individuals in the vehicle, Conklin said.
"We have actually been investigating him and monitoring him for a number of months now," Conklin said.
Police and the Marshals finally tracked him to Dewey Street in Stratford Tuesday morning and waited for him to leave the residence. They were able to arrest him before he was able to get into a vehicle, Conklin said. There were no issues with his arrest, Conklin said.
"We're happy to get this guy in custody. We put a lot of time, effort and resources into locating him," Conklin said. "He's a person who came up from the Carolinas with some very heavy weaponry and narcotics. He endangered members of our community by driving in a very reckless manner. It's just good news to have this guy in custody."
Police recovered a TEC 9, a semi-automatic pistol that is banned in Connecticut, along with five magazines for it. The TEC 9 can be altered to fire automatically.
He is charged with reckless driving, engaging police in a pursuit, two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, weapons in a motor vehicle, possession of an assault weapon, five counts of possession of a high capacity magazine, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. The substance is codeine mixed with cough syrup, Conklin said.
"It is an opium based drink, and it is referred to often in the rap culture as drinking syrup," Conklin said.
He is also facing three charges of failing to appear in court on other unrelated charges.
HIs bond for the Jan. 30 charges is $150,000. He also has a total of $3,000 in bonds on the failure to appear charges.
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