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Thug allegedly tells state trooper he 'kills cops,' threatens to kill trooper, drives over 100 mph in police chase, pulls knife on officers
Image source: Connecticut State Police

Thug allegedly tells state trooper he 'kills cops,' threatens to kill trooper, drives over 100 mph in police chase, pulls knife on officers

A Connecticut man is behind bars after authorities said he told a state trooper he "kills cops," threatened to kill the trooper, drove over 100 miles per hour in a police chase, and later pulled a knife on arresting troopers.

What are the details?

An on-duty state police sergeant in plain clothes with his state police badge displayed was entering his assigned vehicle in Hartford around 10:30 a.m. April 24 when the male driver of a silver Honda Accord began to shout at the sergeant and asked if he was “a cop," state police said.

After the sergeant replied affirmatively, the male in the car declared that he “kills cops," police said, after which the male threatened to kill the sergeant.

The sergeant approached the Honda and gave verbal commands to the male with the intent of taking him into custody, police said. As the male drove off, the sergeant took note of the car's license plate, after which the male "came to a stop a short distance away, where [he] leaned out the vehicle’s window, displayed an obscene hand gesture and yelled profanities at the sergeant before continuing westbound on Asylum Street," police said.

The sergeant later spotted the male and turned on his emergency lights and siren — but the male took off "in a reckless and erratic manner at speeds in excess of 100 m.p.h. In the interest of public safety, efforts to stop the Honda were terminated in the area of I-91 southbound in the area of Exit 28," police said.

Authorities identified the suspect as 29-year-old Raymond Lapinski of Hartford, adding that a "database check revealed that Lapinski was also the subject of active arrest warrants" from local police departments, police said.

Police found Lapinski in Hartford just after 9 a.m. April 25, police said, adding that troopers ordered him to the ground.

Instead, Lapinski "reached toward his waistband and retrieved a knife," police said, after which troopers drew their guns.

Perhaps the futility of bringing a knife to a gunfight began to click. Indeed, police said at that moment, "Lapinski complied with orders to drop the knife."

The battle wasn't quite over, however. Police said Lapinski began resisting attempts to place him in a police cruiser, "becoming combative with troopers and yelling obscenities." Police said the sergeant Lapinski was accused of initially threatening and a state police detective suffered minor injuries during the struggle.

What happened next?

Police said Lapinski was taken to the Hartford Correctional Center and charged with two counts of assault of a public safety officer, criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree, interfering with an officer, and carrying a dangerous weapon.

In connection to the initial interaction with the sergeant, Lapinski was charged with threatening in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, reckless driving, disobeying the signal of an officer/attempting to elude or escape an officer, police said.

According to CT Insider, Lapinski also was arrested on warrants in relation other run-ins with police in Hartford, West Hartford, and Canton — all in April. He was accused in those incidents of reckless driving, interfering with officers, making threats, and other infractions, the outlet said.

The next scheduled court date for all of Lapinski's cases is May 10, CT Insider said.

As of Thursday morning, Lapinski remains in the Hartford Correctional Center on $560,000 bail.

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