When Bridgeport Police Officer J.M. Holley returned to work last Tuesday morning, there was a message waiting for him on his telephone. While that isn’t unusual, the anonymous message left was – and it was appreciated.

 

Holley, who went to local media the day prior with pictures of a car being sought in a “leaving the scene” case for an incident at Bridgeport City Park, had what appeared to be a quality lead. And when he followed up, he knew he had more than that.

 

“We actually had a few calls, but it was that very first one that I had the very next morning after (Connect-Bridgeport) ran the article with the picture that led to the vehicle in question,” said Holley.

 

Holley submitted photos of what was believed to be a Toyota Venza that was captured on video striking another vehicle at City Park on Sept. 22 at 4:22 p.m. While the video was clear, the driver didn’t turn their car where the license plate was showing. However, the pictures were clear enough that Holley figured there was a chance it might work.

 

As it turned out, he was correct. The pictures take from the video from the still relatively new City Park cameras did exactly what they were installed to do – led Holley to what was, in fact, a Toyota Venza.

 

“From the call, it was noted that the vehicle in question was observed at the residence and that there was damage to it,” said Holley. “Upon going to the residence and observing the vehicle in the driveway I approached the owner who at first denied it. Once the individual was told that there was video, they said it probably could have happened because they were at the park that day. The individual noted that there were kids in the vehicle making a lot of noise and perhaps that’s why they didn’t hear anything.”

 

The individual was cited with a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene. They will ultimately be responsible for repairs of the vehicle that was hit. Holley said the person that struck the vehicle was a city resident. As is standard practice with the majority of misdemeanor charges, the identity is not released by many media outlets, including Connect.

 

“I ended up getting a few additional calls; all with the same information so this worked. I want to thank the public for their help in this matter as there likely would not have been resolution for this case otherwise,” said Holley.