Crime & Safety

Police: Teen Tries to Grab Steering Wheel During Argument in Moving Vehicle

No accident occurred after an 18-year-old tried to grab the steering wheel during an argument with her mother as they were driving, Darien police said.

An argument between an 18-year-old daughter and her mother over who would pay for a new cell phone got violent during the ride to the phone store and continued at home, where a television was broken, police said.

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the incident:

On Sunday, June 27, the teenager and her mother, 38, were driving to Team Mobile to get a cell phone for the daughter. An argument began about whether the daughter or her mother would pay for the device.

The mother, who was driving, later told police that her daughter screamed, turned the ignition off while the vehicle was in motion, and tried to take control of the steering wheel. The mother said she pushed the daughter away and had to make a sudden turn to avoid a traffic accident.

She turned around and drove home, which is on Allen O'Neill Drive. Once home, the daughter pushed over a flat-screen television, which broke it. At that point, her mother called police.

The daughter told police she was upset about her mother not paying for the phone and admitted to striking her mother when her mother pushed her away in the car. She also admitted to smashing the television. There were no injuries or visible marks on the mother.

The daughter was charged with disorderly conduct and given an appearance ticket to show up June 30 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

The daughter (or someone with the same first and last name and birth year) also had been charged by Stamford police with third-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace in December 2013, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website. It was unclear from the website whether or not that case has been resolved.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.