State Police arrested a Stamford police officer on Tuesday morning after he surrendered on an active warrant in connection to an early morning Oct 12, 2025 crash on Long Ridge Road/Route 104 in Stamford, in the area Erskine Road
The crash involved a 2016 VW Touareg driven by Stamford Police officer, Volodymyr Molchanov, 24, who was off duty at the time, and a 2016 Nissan Rogue driven by the victim, an Uber driver who is a Norwalk resident.
The victim was unconscious and trapped inside his vehicle before being extricated by firefighters. He was taken to Stamford Hospital for life threatening injuries and has since undergone multiple spinal surgeries.
Molchanov and his passenger, Alex Lauture, also an off-duty Stamford Police officer, were taken to the hospital for reported minor injuries after the crash.
A witness who had been dropped off on Long Ridge Rd by the Uber driver, told State Police in a follow up interview, “I’m about to get in the (other) car when I see our Uber driver make a left hand turn out of the parking lot where he dropped us off, and then boom, I just see his car basically explode into a million pieces.”
The witness said he did not see any headlights coming from Mr. Molchanov’s vehicle. Nor did he hear Molchanov’s vehicle brake.
According to the arrest warrant application, Lauture said he and Molchanov were traveling from McShane’s Bar in Port Chester to a friend’s in Pound Ridge, after the bar closed at 3am, but that Molchanov said did not drink while at the bar.
During his brief hospital visit, Molchanov agreed to Stamford Police officer Corey Fisher to undergo Standard field Sobriety Tests, and was deemed to have performed the walk and stand test and one leg stand to standard, but not the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus HGN test. Molchanov refused to provide blood or urine samples while at the hospital.
“Additionally, while interacting with Molchanov, Officer Fisher observed his eyes to be bloodshot and watery to include the odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from his mouth,” according to the arrest report.
Volodymyr Molchanov. Photo: CT State Police
State police took possession of both vehicles and the event data recorder in the Molchanov’s VW indicated that 2 seconds before the crash, his vehicle was traveling 73 mph with the service break activation off. The speed limit on Long Ridge Rd/Rte 104 where the crash occurred was 45mph.
According to State Police, the central question in a crossing path collision is whether the speed of the through vehicle was a causative or contributing factor in the collision.
State Police said a simulation determined with 95% confidence that the Nisssan would have cleared the northbound lane of Long Ridge Rd/Route 104 without collision if the VW was traveling the speed limit.
The post collision inspection revealed the VW had after-market tinting on the side windows and front windshield, which state police said might have been a contributing factor to the cause of the collision.
Molchanov was charged with Reckless Driving, Assault 2, and Illegally Tinted Auto Glass.
He was able to post his $50,000 bond and assigned a date in Stamford Superior Court on May 4, 2026.