Woman Accused Of Assaulting Man, Dog In Derby, Striking Police Cruiser: Police

DERBY, CT — A woman accused of assaulting a man and his dog in a Derby parking lot, then intentionally striking a police cruiser with a stolen vehicle was arrested late last month, police announced Thursday.

In a news release posted to Facebook, police said officers received a report on Sept. 27 that a woman had assaulted a man and his dog in an Elizabeth Street parking lot, then fled the area in a stolen vehicle.

According to police, when officers located the vehicle on Elizabeth Street near Seymour Avenue and tried to stop it, Aliyah Beeman, 31, of Bridgeport, tried to flee by illegally passing another vehicle on Elizabeth Street, intentionally striking a police cruiser, then sideswiping an uninvolved occupied vehicle.

Beeman then refused multiple commands to exit the vehicle, police said.

After further investigation, officers determined Beeman had driven the vehicle with an unwilling adult passenger and juvenile passenger, according to police.

Beeman was charged with risk of injury to a minor, four counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, assault on a police officer, three counts of criminal attempt to assault a police officer, interfering with an officer, reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended driver license and disobeying signal of an officer/attempting to elude police.

Beeman was also arrested for eight outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court for previous offenses, according to police.

She was held on a $250,000 bond. Police also noted additional charges are expected.

"The Derby Police Department commends the quick response of its officers in bringing this dangerous incident to a safe resolution without further harm to the public," police said in a news release. "Anyone with additional information is encouraged to come forward."