Connecticut Police Chase Ends With Car in Sleeping Man's Bedroom

A police chase ended in a rude awakening for a Connecticut man when the chase suspect's vehicle crashed into his bedroom and landed on top of him as he lay in bed.

Michael Sweat, 34, was sleeping in his apartment bedroom when he awoke to find a BMW SUV on top of his back, authorities said.  He spent the next hour pinned in that position until New Haven firefighters were finally able to free him.

While Sweat lay stuck underneath the car, the suspect who caused the early morning crash fled the scene.

That person, still on the loose, had engaged police on a five-mile chase that began in the nearby town of Hamden around 12:30 a.m., police said.

Officers spotted the suspect's BMW X5 SUV, realized the driver was wanted for motor-vehicle violations and tried to pull the vehicle over.  Instead, the driver led police on a 30-minute pursuit through the campus of Southern Connecticut State University and into the town of New Haven.

There, the suspect lost control in the Newhallville neighborhood where Sweat lives.  The BMW crashed straight through Sweat's apartment, landing fully inside his first-floor bedroom.

The suspect fled the scene on foot and remains on the loose, according to New Haven Police Officer David Hartman.

Firefighters used "manual and pneumatic tools and timber to shore up the BMW and the home itself," while, at the same time, treating Sweat, Hartman said in a release.

Sweat did not suffer life-threatening injuries but was taken to a local hospital for treatment for second- and third-degree burns to his lower body, Hartman said.

The Connecticut State Police have been brought in to help with the investigation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.