A teenager faces charges for allegedly driving more than 125 mph on Interstate 91 in Hartford on Thursday and fleeing from a trooper who tried to pull him over, state police said.
The driver was spotted just before 12:10 p.m. on I-91 North near Exit 29 as a trooper was conducting speed enforcement as part of the state police Fatal Accident Mitigation Initiative, according to Connecticut State Police.
State police said a trooper spotted a motorist in a black Acura TLX sedan that was alleged to be going more than 100 mph. The trooper was later able to reportedly clock the vehicle’s speed at more than 125 mph using the cruiser’s speedometer, according to state police.
The trooper put the cruiser’s lights and sirens on to try to pull the driver over, but the Acura allegedly continued accelerating and started using the shoulder and gore area to pass other vehicles, state police said. Before the trooper abandoned the motor vehicle stop, the driver was seen abruptly getting off I-91 using Exit 32b onto Market Street.
According to state police, the motorist was allegedly then seen blowing a red light and a stop sign before continuing out of sight.
State police said the trooper was able to use the vehicle’s registration and open-source Internet information to find a phone number for the suspected driver. When contacted, state police said he allegedly admitted to engaging police in pursuit and agreed to turn himself in at Troop H in Hartford.
The driver was identified as 19-year-old Tamir Skyers of Hartford, according to state police. He faces charges of operating a vehicle under suspension, reckless driving, disobeying the signal of an officer, passing on the right, failure to maintain the proper lane on a limited access highway, making an improper turn, failure to obey traffic control signals, failure to obey a stop sign, operating a motor vehicle without a license, interfering with an officer and first-degree reckless endangerment.
Skyers was released on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Nov. 4.
