The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Data: CT highway deaths up, overall crashes down during holiday weekend
While four people were killed in three crashes on Connecticut highways in a span of a few hours early Saturday morning, accidents and citations overall were down this Thanksgiving holiday weekend compared with last year, state police said.
The four deaths were up from last year when there was one fatality, but were less than the seven people killed in 2020 during the holiday period, which goes from 12:01 a.m. Wednesday to 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
Accidents, calls for service, speeding citations and driving while under the influence arrests were down this year compared with the 2021 holiday period. But the number of seat belt and other hazardous violations nearly doubled to 1,153 this year, up from 677 in 2021, the data shows.
There were 41 operating under the influence arrests, including a Stratford man who state police said caused a wrong-way fatal crash on Interstate 95 northbound in Milford early Saturday. That’s compared with 50 operating under the influence arrests during the same period in 2021.
James Tedesco, 41, of Stratford, was traveling the wrong way on I-95 when he struck another vehicle head-on, killing Tianzhu Yuan, 35, of North Haven. state police said.
During the crash investigation, police said they detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from Tedesco, whose speech was also slurred, state police said. Tedesco stated he had been drinking prior to the crash, but refused to undergo sobriety tests, state police said.
State troopers investigated 444 crashes this year compared with 543 last Thanksgiving weekend, the data showed. Of the 444 crashes, injuries were reported in 30 of them. In addition to the fatal accidents, serious injuries were reported in crashes in Glastonbury and New Britain, state police said.
State police are still trying to determine who was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee that rear-ended a Dodge Challenger on I-95 south in West Haven early Saturday, leading to the death of a Bridgeport man. A state police spokesperson said it was still unclear Monday if Devlon West Hines, 35, of Bridgeport, was a passenger or the driver of the Jeep.
West was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene after hitting the Challenger, state police said.
Two other men, Adejah Valentine, 22, of Hartford, and Tajay Walsh, 19, of Manchester, were killed early Saturday on Route 15 south in Wallingford when their vehicle ran off the right side of the road, up the grass embankment and into a tree, state police said.
The men were thrown from the vehicle, which rolled over during the incident, state police said. They were taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead, state police said.