Newtown police on Monday evening were continuing their search for a young Hispanic male who was spotted fleeing from a disabled vehicle that had stopped running a few hours earlier at the intersection of Pole Bridge Road and Bancroft Road in Sandy Hook.

Lieutenant Richard Robinson said Monday evening that police have no reason to believe that the young male who fled the scene is armed or is dangerous. Also, police have no reason to believe that the male poses any particular danger to the public, Lt Robinson said. The lieutenant heads the police detective bureau.

Although it had initially appeared to a passerby that the collision had occurred in Sandy Hook, the crash likely occurred elsewhere and the vehicle was driven until it stopped running, police said Monday afternoon. Police later learned that the silver Volkswagen sedan had been stolen from Danbury about one month ago. Danbury police and the vehicle's owner were notified that the auto had been found.

In a Code Red alert transmitted by the town mid-afternoon, police reported that at approximately 2:19 pm, a male who is about 5'8" tall, with medium-length curly hair, had fled from the Bancroft-Pole Bridge intersection. The male was described as wearing a black hoodie-style sweatshirt and carrying a black backpack.

Police alerted the local school bus company of the situation.

To aid in their search for the male, police called in a police dog in seeking to track the suspect.

Police said they are following investigatory leads in the case.

Police ask anyone with information on the incident to contact them through the 911 system.