Stratford Man Arrested for Hit-and-Run -- with Porch

A 25-year-old Stratford man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly plowing into a neighbor's porch then fleeing the scene.

"I missed that stop sign back there," Dale Cawthra, of Wells Place, reportedly told the homeowner whose Nichols Avenue porch he crashed into at about 1 a.m. Sunday, police said.

According to the arrest report, the homeowner was awakened by the sound of the collision -- which he called "an explosion" -- and after he told Cawthra to stay put, the male operator reversed his vehicle and sped off southbound on Nichols Avenue.

Police reportedly caught up with Cawthra at the intersection of Wells Place and Main Street, where residents had called in complaints about a parked car with heavy front-end damage and its airbags deployed.

Officers smelled alcohol on Cawthra's breath, and the 25-year-old local would later admit at police headquarters to drinking at a wedding and subsequent after party, the report said.

At headquarters, Cawthra's blood alcohol concentration tested 0.143 and 0.137, according to police. The legal limit for motorists 21 and older in Connecticut is 0.08.

Cawthra was charged with driving under the influence, evading responsibility property damage, failure to obey stop sign and traveling too fast.

He was held on $1000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court May 29.