Police: Minivan Almost Hits Officer, Driver Arrested

The driver of a minivan almost hit a police officer, who had to jump out of the way at a downtown street excavation site, said Darien police, who later arrested the driver.

William Henneberry, 33, of Norwalk, who police say was the driver, later was arrested in connection with the incident.

Police gave this account of the incident and arrest:

On Monday, Nov. 19, two uniformed officers were on special duty at a construction site at the intersection of the Post Road and Leroy Avenue. A new gas line was being installed there.

The right lane for eastbound traffic (driving in the direction of the railroad overpass) was closed off, and the closure was properly marked with warning signs and cones.

'Had to jump backward'

At about 12:30 p.m., one officer stopped a vehicle traveling eastbound on the Post Road. The officer then saw a silver or gray Toyota Sienna minivan try to drive around the vehicle the officer had stopped. While doing this, the minivan driver was honking his horn.

The officer then gestured for the minivan to stop and approached it to try to speak to the driver, but the operator ignored the officer and abruptly sped off, eastward on the Post Road.

As the minivan sped off, the officer had to jump backward to avoid getting struck by the vehicle.

The officer then yelled to his partner, who was a few hundred feet away, and that officer raised both hands, signalling the driver to stop. Instead, the minivan drove around the officer and quickly sped up Leroy Avenue.

Investigation leads to arrest

"Through information supplied by a Darien officer who had had prior dealings with Henneberry, he became the target of the investigation," police said in a news release.

Police found out that Henneberry's mother owned a 2008 Toyota Sienna minivan and that Henneberry worked for a business located in nearby Thorndal Circle. Police identified the minivan in the company's parking lot and identified Henneberry from previous mug shots police have on file.

Police tried to contact Henneberry, including by leaving phone messages with his employer's receptionist, but never heard back from him. They then applied for and received an arrest warrant charging him with second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and two counts of disobeying the signal of an officer.

On Monday, Dec. 3, an officer who recognized Henneberry saw him driving into the parking lot of Darien Library, which is next to Darien Police Department headquarters.

Henneberry was arrested and posted a $5,000 bond pending an appearance Dec. 13 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Editor's note: This article originally was published on Monday. The time stamp has been changed for layout purposes on the Home page of Darien Patch.