State police make arrest following violent street takeover in Tolland

TOLLAND, CT (WFSB) - State police are investigating a street takeover that caused damage in the green and center areas of Tolland over the weekend.

Channel 3 obtained social media video of the incident. Watch it below:

A group of more than 100 people blocked off Route 195 in Tolland. It happened around 10 p.m.

They were doing donuts and other stunts. Skid marks are left behind.

Footage shows the violent group kick a woman’s car, jump on top and even wreck her mirrors. The woman gets out of the car in shock, trying to reason with the group, but that doesn’t help.

Police arrested one of the ring leaders who led the takeover.

Jefferson Duron, 20, of Norwalk, was taken into custody Sunday evening.

State police said Duron was one of the people who led the street takeover in Tolland. He also helped lead takeovers in Hartford and New Haven Counties.

The Tolland takeover was so large that an ambulance couldn’t even get through.

“They were delayed and had to reroute as a result of the roadblock occurring,” said Tolland Town Manager Brian Foley.

One member was even wearing a “Love never fails” sweatshirt, yet results to violence, kicking the car.

Eyewitness News showed the video to David and Beth.

“I don’t understand it at all. I mean I don’t understand what people are thinking of when they do something like that,” said Beth, of Tolland.

State police are investigating.

A few people called 911 last night, but there weren’t many troopers on duty in the area. Foley said state police decided to stand down.

“What are you gonna send one cop two cops? How many cops are you going to muster up at 10 on a Sunday night,” Foley said. “This is a violent episode. You saw the same video I saw. That’s violence and we don’t want that type of escalation.”

Foley said some members even had baseball bats.

Law enforcement expert Lt. Paul Vance says there are several law enforcement techniques that could be utilized by police.

“What you observe and what you can still be enforced upon after the fact. License plates, registrations, an investigation. There are many law enforcement techniques to stop the behavior,” said Vance.

After the incident, police saw a gray Ford Mustang GT on I-91 south at the Route 40 Connector in Milford Sunday evening. The vehicle was involved in the takeovers.

A motor vehicle stop led to Duron’s arrest, authorities said.

Duron was charged with inciting a riot, riot first-degree, reckless endangerment first-degree, reckless driving, improper rear/marker lamps, and failure to display plates/ inserts.

Duron is out on a $30,000 bond. He appeared in Manchester court on Monday. He will be back in court on June 29.

On Duron’s Facebook he shows his love of cars and racing.

Video taken off his Facebook from January 2022 has the caption “made a dream into reality. “It shows cars doing donuts around parking lots and taking off in what appear to be races.

A year earlier, he posted several pictures of a car that appears to be at another street takeover.

“Very disturbing to anyone in the area caught up in the incident,” Foley told Channel 3. “We were told by a witness there were fireworks, there was bottles being thrown, that it was a large disturbance for especially for 10:00 on a Sunday night.”

He said on Monday that he’s been trying figure out what happened and how to prevent it in the future.

“There is an escalation here,” Foley said. “This is beyond motor vehicle infractions. Details are preliminary, but there is now violence occurring. This is a statewide problem.”

Channel 3 learned that a similar incident happened at a driving range in Stafford Springs.

State police are looking into whether the same group was responsible.

A Go Fund Me was started to help a woman who had her car destroyed. You can find it HERE.

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