Stolen Car Was Bait In 'Extortion' Attempt: Farmington Police

FARMINGTON, CT — A man implicated in what Farmington police are describing as an extortion attempt through a stolen car has been transferred to a state Department of Correction-supervised health care facility with intensified charges, a law enforcement spokesman said.

In a Thursday morning interview with Patch, Farmington Police Department spokesman Lt. Tim McKenzie said 30-year-old Higganum resident David O'Brien had not posted a half-million dollar bail.

He was served a warrant on Feb. 15 with the revised charges at an area hospital, where was was in the intensive care unit recovering from serious "self-inflicted wounds" sustained as police were closing in on him in Hartford, McKenzie said. He was then transferred to a state-supervised facility, he added.

The incident took place on Jan. 29, records show.

According to a warrant, O'Brien and 31-year-old Laura Murphy had stolen a car in an area town belonging to an acquaintance. The car's owner arranged to get the vehicle back via a meeting with O'Brien and Murphy at the American Red Cross office parking lot on Farmington Avenue, according to a warrant.

Things then became violent, according to a warrant.

O'Brien is accused is trying to drag the woman into the car car in an effort to obtain passwords for personal financial items like bank cards, but when he and Murphy realized her purse was already inside, they threw her to the pavement.

They then ran over her over with the vehicle when fleeing the lot, according to a warrant.

The woman was seriously injured and taken to an area hospital, McKenzie said.

Meanwhile, police began searching for the stolen car. The pair then tried to go on a spending spree with the woman's credit and bank cards, Mckenzie said.

O'Brien and Murphy were located in Hartford and, when police began approaching them, O'Brien wounded himself, according to police. His injuries were described by McKenzie as "severe."

O'Brien was charged on a warrant with:

• Criminal attempt at first-degree kidnapping
• First-degree unlawful restraint
• Third-degree larceny
• Fourth-degree larceny
• Fifth-degree larceny
• Fraudulent use of an auto teller
• Extracting less than $50o from the illegal use of a credit card
• Receipt of items from the illegal use of a credit card
• Second-degree robbery
• Third-degree identity theft
• Second-degree assault
• Third-degree computer crime
• Evading responsibility

Murphy was taken into custody without incident, police said. Charges for Murphy include:

• Criminal attempt at first-degree kidnapping
• Unlawful restraint

Murphy's bond was set at $450,000, police said.