At least 5 killed in weekend crashes in Connecticut
At least five people were killed and several others were hurt in a series of crashes in Connecticut.
The victims included a 22-year-old New Britain man, the head of a Vernon homeless shelter and a Coventry woman in her 60s. As of Monday afternoon, police had not yet released the identities of everyone who died in the weekend crashes.
The string of fatal incidents began around 10:20 a.m. Saturday morning after a head-on crash in Groton.
Police said the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta was killed after he veered into oncoming traffic on Buddington Road, colliding with a Jeep Cherokee. The driver was found unconscious at the scene and taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, where he was pronounced dead. The driver of the Jeep and her 5-year-old daughter were also taken to the hospital with what police described as non-life-threatening injuries.
Early Sunday morning, Connecticut State Police said the driver of a Toyota minivan was heading west on Interstate 84 in West Hartford near Exit 40 when he lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle “traveled across all three lanes of travel,” the right shoulder and the Exit 41 entrance ramp before slamming into a concrete sound barrier to the right side of the highway, state police said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. He was identified as 22year-old Luis Daniel Colon, of New Britain.
Later in the day, two people, including the director of a Vernon homeless shelter, were killed in a head-on crash in Tolland.
State police said the crash occurred just before 1:30 p.m. on Route 195. The agency said 67-year-old Coventry resident Amanda Josephine Bowen was heading south on the road when she went over the double-yellow line, hitting another car head-on. State police identified the other driver as 64-year-old Ellington resident Bryan Flint, the deputy director of the Cornerstone Foundation in the Rockville section of Vernon. Flint also headed the organization’s shelter.
Later Sunday afternoon, a motorcyclist was killed on Lower County Road in Wolcott.
Hours later, another motorcyclist was killed in a crash involving a tractor-trailer in South Windsor. Police said the crash occurred around 6:55 p.m. on Route 5 near the Chapel Road intersection. Police said the motorcyclist, identified as 60-year-old East Windsor resident, Norman L. Poulin, was killed in the crash.
In addition to the five people who died in Connecticut, one person was killed and three others were injured in a crash early Sunday on Interstate 91 just over the Enfield border in Longmeadow, Mass.