WESTPORT — A man who fled into a Westport neighborhood after crashing a stolen car Saturday on the Merritt Parkway is a fugitive wanted for assault in Missouri, according to State Police.

The man — identified as George Vargas, 19, of New Haven — faces a series of state charges in connection with the local incident, in addition to being sought on a warrant for third-degree domestic assault in Miller County, Mo., police said.

The crash took place about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, near northbound Exit 42 of the Merritt Parkway in Westport, where state troopers were told the driver — later identified as Vargas — fled on foot into a nearby wooded area to the south.

Police officers from Westport and Fairfield joined state troopers in searching for the suspect, who was believed to be armed, according to the report.

Westport police located the suspect shortly after the collision and detained him near Highland Road, where he initially gave officers a false name. 

Vargas was searched for concealed weapons, and police said they found he “was in possession of a black taser-type device,” although he denied carrying a gun. No other weapons were found by investigators during a subsequent “extensive search” of the area, police said.

A records search of Vargas’s background found that he was wanted on an extraditable arrest warrant for domestic assault by the Miller County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri, police said.

State investigators later determined the car Vargas was driving at the time of the collision was reported stolen earlier Saturday from the University of Connecticut campus in Stamford.

Vargas was charged with being a fugitive from justice/extradition arrest without a warrant. Bond on this charge was set at $750,000.

He faced additional charges in connection with the Merritt Parkway incident, including: larceny of a motor vehicle, criminal possession of an electronic defense weapon, operating a motor vehicle without a license, evading responsibility, interfering with an investigation, weapons in a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle while using a handheld device and failure to maintain the proper lane.

Bond on the state charges was set at $10,000.

Vargas was held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center and scheduled to be arraigned Monday at state Superior Court in Stamford.