Pomfret/Griswold, CT – A Griswold man has been arrested and charged with numerous charges, including Manslaughter and OUI, after crashing a vintage car last year where his passenger was killed and he was seriously injured.
On Wednesday, June 19th, 2024, the operator of the vehicle, a 35-year-old man (34 years old at the time of the incident) turned himself in to Troop D on an active warrant for the below charges. He was released on a $125,000 cash/surety bond with the additional condition he would not operate a motor vehicle during his release.
- Manslaughter in the Second Degree with a motor vehicle (53a-56b)
- Reckless Driving (14-222)
- Operating while Under the Influence of Liquor or drug (14-227a)
- Failure to drive right (14-230a)
The man does not have any previous criminal charges listed in the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch database.
Original Crash and Investigation
At approximately 8:24 PM on Monday, October 9th, 2023, the Pomfret Fire Department, Putnam Fire Department, KB Ambulance, QV Medic, and Troopers from Troop D (Danielson) were dispatched for a car vs tree motor vehicle accident with entrapment in the area of 821 Pomfret St.
According to an affidavit provided by the Connecticut State in the arrest warrant, troopers arrived to find a Blue 1967 Triumph GT6 facing the wrong way in a 5′ gulley next to the roadway. A bystander who arrived first on the scene described the vehicle as heavily damaged on its right side, with the roof caved in, the trunk crushed into itself, and a tire 8-10′ from the vehicle.
The operator, a 34-year-old Griswold man, was transported with serious injuries to UMass Memorial Medical Center (Worcester, MA) by Hartford Healthcare LIFE STAR. The passenger, a 35-year-old Waterford woman, was pronounced deceased on the scene.
The report for the postmortem examination conducted by the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) confirmed the woman was fatally injured by blunt force trauma sustained in the crash. The post-collision inspection of the vehicle revealed it was not equipped with seatbelts.
The affidavit went on to state, that the investigation conducted by Troop D’s Fatal Accident Investigator and the Connecticut State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad (CARS) determined the Triumph was traveling south on Pomfret St at a speed between 70.62 mph and 74.31 mph (the posted speed limit is 35mph) when it attempted to navigate a right curve. The vehicle crossed over the southbound shoulder into the roadside where its left side rode up the metal guardrail before colliding with a 2′ diameter tree. The vehicle then redirected and came to a rest in the gulley with the front of the vehicle facing northbound.
Troopers on the scene discovered 3 cans of beer within the vehicle and the operator stated he had previously consumed “a couple of alcoholic beverages.” A blood sample collected at the hospital (approximately 1.5 hours after the crash) which was forwarded to the Division of Scientific Services to convert the medical measurements to a blood alcohol content indicated the man’s blood alcohol content was .07%.
While the Pomfret Fire Department has historically responded to several accidents in this stretch of roadway every year, an in-depth investigation by CARS determined that “the roadway configuration and its surface condition were neither a causative nor a contributing factor for this collision sequence.”
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