Man gets 30 months in prison

Police said he fled scene of crash that killed 23-year-old

TORRINGTON — It took almost two years, but a West Hartland man charged in connection with the death of a 23year-old-Riverton man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison , suspended after he serves 21⁄2 years.

Thomas McGee, 51, now of a temporary address of Pearl Street, pleaded guilty in March to evading responsibility in connection with a death, which can carry a sentence of up to 20 years. Zachary Dube died in the 2016 hit-and-run accident.

Dube was riding a dirt bike near the Log House Restaurant in Barkhamsted on the evening of May 20, when McGee, who was driving a Toyota Tacoma, attempted to make a left turn on Route 44 and struck him, then left the scene, according to police.

The sentence imposed requires McGee to serve five years of probation after he is released, court records show.

McGee’s attorney, William Paetzold of Glastonbury said McGee “apologized in open court” to the victim’s family during his sentencing hearing at Superior Court in Torrington. He said McGee would face an additional 12.5 years if he violated probation.

Officers from State police Troop B investigated the May, 2016 hit-and-run crash.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit filed in the case, Paetzold contacted police May 22, 2016 to say that his client, McGee, was the driver of a 2015 Toyota Tacoma, and “believed he had struck a deer the night of the accident and continued home.”

Paetzold later told police that McGee was the only operator of the vehicle, and that his client contacted an attorney after hearing about the matter on the news, the affidavit said.

Paetzold said his client is being held a facility he wouldn’t name and said McGee and will be transferred to a state prison within a week. Online state records show McGee was being held at the New Haven Correctional Center as of Tuesday.