Police: Driver accused of fatal hit-and-run had been drinking
BRIDGEPORT — Declan Kot had been “hammered,” according to his statement to police.
He had consumed six alcoholic drinks on a friend’s boat on July 4 and his girlfriend ended up having to drive his Dodge Ram pickup truck while he slept it off in the passenger seat. But, police said, after dropping his girlfriend off at her home in Fairfield, Kot, 22, said felt well enough to drive to his home in Easton.
Marileidy Morel-Araujo never saw Kot speeding toward her.
On Wednesday, Kot was arraigned in state Superior Court for the 32-year-old
Morel-Araujo’s death.
Standing beside his lawyer, John R. Gulash, before a video camera in a separate courtroom because of pandemic precautions, Kot pleaded not guilty before Judge Kevin Doyle to evading responsibility involving a fatality, misconduct with a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence and motor vehicle charges. He and his lawyer asked for a jury trial.
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Cornelius Kelly told the judge the state may add manslaughter charges as the investigation unfolds. He said they have additional evidence that Kot had been drinking before the crash.
Doyle denied a motion from Gulash to take off the restriction, which bans Kot, who is free on bond, from driving.
“I understand part of the investigation reveals there was drinking that day but the court could satisfy any concerns by requiring he have an ignition locking device. He certainly would be willing to have that as a condition,” Gulash argued.
But Kelly said he and the victim’s family, who he has been in contact with, would object to allowing Kott to continue driving.
The judge continued the case to July 30.
“We are going to take it one step at a time,” Gulash commented as he and Kot left the Fairfield County Courthouse.
Morel-Araujo and her boyfriend, Daniel Fernandez, had gone to Fairfield from their home in Pennsylvania for a Fourth of July barbecue with Fernandez’s sister, Denise Fernandez, who has a home on Redding Road.
At 7:30 p.m. on July 4, police said Morel-Araujo took her dog, Coal, for a walk on Redding Road.
A Fairfield man, who had gone out for ice cream with his girlfriend, was driving home to his house on Redding Road when his girlfriend spotted Morel-Araujo bleeding in the road. She shouted, “Oh my God, stop, there is a woman in the road,” police said.
The couple stopped their vehicle and went to check on Morel-Araujo, soon joined by a Bridgeport man who happened on the scene a minute later. The Bridgeport man got out of his car and held Morel-Araujo’s hand until help arrived, police said.
Meanwhile, Denise Fernandez noticed flashing emergency lights at the end of her driveway and went out to investigate. Police said Fernandez saw emergency personnel hovering over the body of a young woman in the street. A little white dog was wandering around near the woman’s body and Fernandez thought it looked very much like her brother’s dog Coal.
A short time later officers arrived at the Fernandez home with the sad news.
Police said there was confusion when witnesses initially identified the striking vehicle as a dark green Jeep with an American flag streaming from the back.
Video from adjacent homes, as well as pieces of the striking vehicle left at the scene, determined it was a white Dodge pickup, a large American flag affixed to its rear bumper. They said video showed the truck had swerved across the yellow line on Redding Road and the passenger side mirror had struck Morel-Araujo in the back of the head causing her to fall face forward onto the pavement.
On July 7, Fairfield Police Officer Virgil Procaccini was on routine patrol when he spotted a pickup matching the description and pulled it over. The driver, Kot, agreed to go to police headquarters.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Kot admitted he had been driving his pickup after consuming six alcoholic drinks.
“He drove off the road near some bushes/trees and heard a loud bang on the side of his vehicle which startled him; he thought he hit a tree branch at the time,” police stated in the affidavit, noting the area of the collision does not have any shrubbery or trees.
According to the affidavit, Kot said when he got home, he noticed missing pieces on his passenger side mirror and replaced the mirror.
During this interview, Kot began to cry and, the affidavit states, he was “internally totally panicked.” Then, police said, Kot admitted seeing the victim on the side of the road.