Arrest warrant for no damage hit and run?

Location: Connecticut: USA

I’m posting this on behalf of a friend. This happened in Connecticut, USA.

Last month, my friend was leaving a mall parking lot and accidentally bumped the back of someone’s car. They stopped and got out to assess the damage. There was no damage to their car and seemingly no damage to the other person’s car. They didn’t have any paper to leave a note, so they left. Obviously, they could have done more to notify the owner of the car, but since there wasn’t any damage they felt it was okay to leave. I acknowledge that this is a bad move, but I want to emphasize that they didn’t flee the scene to avoid consequence but because they truly felt there was no damage to either car (pls don’t be too harsh in the comments lol).

Apparently, someone witnessed this and reported it to the police. They also saw the owner of the other car return to their vehicle and told them what happened. The local police department called my friend and had them come into the office, which they did, and the officer there told them that there apparently was damage (a broken tail light) to the other vehicle. However, the owner of the other car did NOT want to press charges or seek any further contact with my friend. My friend does not have the other person’s name or contact information (the PD would not give it to them). The officer was apparently pretty harsh towards my friend, and my friend feels horrible and embarrassed about the whole situation and obviously offered to pay for any damage to the other car. The office told my friend they were free to go and that they would call them again if the other person ended up deciding to press charges.

Today, the officer called and said that he had not been able to recently contact the other vehicle’s owner, so the PD is initiating charges against my friend. The officer stated my friend has a warrant for their arrest and that they need to turn themselves in, get arrested, and get a court date. However, we are NOT located in Connecticut (we live in another nearby state).

A lot of this situation just feels weird to me. My friend obviously made a mistake in not leaving a note for the other driver, but the other driver does not want to press charges (according to what the officer said when my friend first spoke to him a few days after the incident happened). My friend has no prior criminal record or even any other driving related citations. They are seeking legal advice through a family friend, but we are young adults and don’t have much experience with this. I know that cops are legally allowed to lie. The officer claims to have evidence (dash cam footage, pictures) but has not shown my friend any of this or offered to, so I’m not even sure if it actually exists. It seems to me like this officer is just on a huge power trip, but I don’t know. Does anyone have any legal advice? Is this something we can fight? We will obviously be steering clear of Connecticut for the time being.