The Latest: Driver who crashed car into hospital ID’d

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Latest on a car being intentionally crashed into a Connecticut emergency room (all times local):

4 p.m.

Authorities have identified the driver who they say intentionally crashed his car carrying containers of flammable liquid into a Connecticut hospital and set himself on fire.

Twenty-seven-year-old Steven Ellam, of Middletown, was listed in critical condition at Bridgeport Hospital.

Court records show he has numerous convictions, including for assault, attempted assault and strangulation. He was sentenced in 2014 to 33 months in prison. Police at the time said he attempted to strangle a woman using plastic bags after telling her she had sinned and was going to die.

Middletown Mayor Dan Drew says they don’t know his motivation for driving the car into the doors of the Middlesex Hospital emergency room at about 10 a.m. Thursday.

Drew says there was one other injury in the incident, a security guard who was treated for smoke inhalation.

____

2 p.m.

The driver who authorities say intentionally crashed his car carrying gasoline containers into a Connecticut hospital and set himself on fire is in critical condition.

The man was flown from Middlesex Hospital where the crash occurred to the burn unit of Bridgeport Hospital, just over 40 miles away.

Authorities say the driver is a man in his 20s who is known to Middletown police. Police say he was on fire when he exited the vehicle after crashing it through the walk-in doors of the Middlesex Hospital emergency department at about 10 a.m. Nobody else was injured.

About 30 patients and 20 staff members were evacuated from the emergency department, which remains closed.

____

1:15 p.m.

Authorities say a driver intentionally crashed into a Connecticut hospital emergency room with his car and then set himself on fire.

Middletown Mayor Dan Drew says the driver had multiple gasoline containers in the vehicle when he crashed through an entrance to Middlesex Hospital Thursday morning. Drew says the man’s motives aren’t known.

No one else was hurt.

Authorities say the driver is a man in his 20s who is known to Middletown police.

A man who lives across from the hospital said he heard what sounded like an explosion and saw a man on fire come running out, screaming for help. The witness, Gary Mills, said responders put the man on a gurney.

Local authorities evacuated homes in the neighbourhood where the driver lives and notified federal authorities.