Hit-and-run suspect surrenders

New Britain man expresses remorse after telling police he intentionally ran over 2 men, killing 1

A New Britain man allegedly told police that he intentionally hit two men with his SUV in New Britain this week — killing one and injuring the other — and that he regretted his actions, a police report obtained by the Hartford Courant said.

“I feel bad about what I did.” Jose Rios told officers, according to the New Britain Police Department report. “No one deserved to die.”

Rios, who turned himself in to police Wednesday morning, admitted to driving his Ford Escape directly into Bruce Cote — whom he knew — and his friend Vincent Maffucci as they were walking on a sidewalk in New Britain on Tuesday night, the report said.

Police responded to reports of a hit-and-run crash near Park Street and Stanley Street on Tuesday. Investigators obtained surveillance footage from the nearby Jalao Deli on Stanley Street and saw a fight between multiple people, including Cote, Maffucci and Rios, police said.

Cote and Maffucci were then seen on the video walking north on the sidewalk on Stanley Street until a Ford Escape accelerated and allegedly was intentionally driven into them in the parking lot of the deli, the police report said.

The driver of the Ford Escape, later identified as Rios, then made a U-turn and left, police said. Investigators said in the report that it was clear from the video that the driver had hit the men intentionally.

Cote, a 59-year-old from New

Britain, died from his injuries and Maffucci, 36, was hospitalized, city officials said.

According to the police report, Rios walked into the New Britain Police Department around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday and told an officer that he had hit two people, fled the scene and went home.

He told two detectives “he had hit two people with his vehicle and ‘that was it,’ ” stating that the police “did not need the details,” the report said.

Rios was brought into an interview room, where he told detectives that he had been drinking in a basement in New Britain with a friend and a few other people when he “went out to get some fresh air,” according to the report.

The report stated that he told police he saw Cote outside, who he has had “issues with in the past.” Rios told police Cote’s friend, later identified as Maffucci, tried to introduce himself and shake his hand but he declined. Rios then alleged that Maffucci asked him, “What, are you too good for me?”

according to the report.

Rios told police that Maffucci “kept running his mouth” so he confronted him and the two “squared up” and fought, the report said.

Rios told police that he then got into his Ford Escape “and they were walking, and I drove over them,” according to the report.

After being interviewed by police, Rios was placed into handcuffs and charged with murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, first-degree assault and multiple motor vehicle charges, according to New Britain police records.

He was arraigned in court in New Britain on Wednesday and was being held in lieu of a $2.5 million bond. He is scheduled to appear in court next in New Britain on July 25, court records show.