Police make arrest after man hit and killed by pickup truck

MANCHESTER — A pickup truck driver ran over and killed a man who was running alongside the truck after a fight in a hotel parking lot late Saturday, police said.

The victim, Ramiro Francisco Onorato, 27, was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center at about11:50 p.m., police said.

Police arrested Octavio Barron, 30, of Charlotte, N.C., and charged him with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, second-degree reckless endangerment and breach of peace. Barron was held on bail of $200,000 after his arraignment Monday in Manchester Superior Court. His next court appearance is set for Aug. 8. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials also filed a detainer request for Barron, police said.

Police were sent about 11:15 p.m. to the Extended Stay America hotel at 340 Tolland Turnpike on a disturbance call. Officers found Onorato on the ground in the rear lot, bleeding from his head. Barron was found at the nearby Sunoco gasoline station, seated in the driver’s seat of a 2011 Chevrolet pickup.

Barron told police he was working for an electrical contractor based in Charlotte, and he and several coworkers had driven to Manchester from New Britain to meet with members of another work crew who were staying at the hotel, a police report said.

The Manchester workers were drunk, Barron told police, and a fight started between the two crews, the report said. One of his workers was getting beaten, Barron said, but when he tried to break up the brawl, he was pushed to the ground, the report said. Barron said he and other workers piled into his pickup truck to get away from the fight when a man from the other crew started hitting the truck windows, police said.

Barron said he did not know he had hit or run over anyone, the report said. Other witnesses said Onorato was running along the passenger side of the moving truck when he went down and under the front and back tires, the report said. Ablood-like substance was found in the rear passenger-side wheel well and a dark-colored hair was found on that tire, police said.

Barron submitted to a breathalyzer test and the result showed zero blood-alcohol content, the report said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Jason Moss at 860-645-5557.