Warrant: Driver in hit-and-run that killed elderly couple tried to flee U.S.

SEYMOUR — The suspect in a double-fatal hit-and-run crash that killed an elderly Shelton couple had bought a one-way plane ticket to Mexico scheduled for Thursday morning before investigators received an anonymous tip identifying him Wednesday afternoon, according to police.

A state police narcotics task force set up surveillance at the West Haven home of the suspect, 24-year-old Jair Irigoyen-Flores, as Seymour detectives worked through the night with court officials to type up an arrest warrant and get it signed by a judge.

Irigoyen-Flores eventually surrendered to police outside the home about 7 a.m. Thursday, one hour before the plane he had bought a ticket for was scheduled to take off.

The fatal crash, on Dec. 10 on Bank Street, killed James and Barbara Tamborra, both 81.

More than two dozen of their family members, friends and police officers filled the courtroom at Derby Superior Court to see Irigoyen-Flores arraigned Thursday morning on two counts of misconduct with a motor vehicle and a single count of evading responsibility in connection with the crash.

Judge H. Gordon Hall ordered Irigoyen-Flores to surrender his passport and ordered his bond remain set at $1.5 million, citing the suspect’s purchase of a plane ticket — and his alleged flight from the scene of the accident that killed the Tamborras.

“There do appear to be some indications of an intention to flee,” the judge said.

The Shelton couple were rushed to the hospital after being hit as they were crossing Bank Street following a funeral, police said. An officer helping the couple cross the road, Dedrick Wilcox, narrowly avoided being hit by the driver, police said.

James Tamborra died from his injuries soon after the crash. Barbara Tamborra died a few days later in the hospital.

The defendant’s lawyer, Dan Lage, declined to comment in court Thursday, but during the arraignment he disputed his client’s intention to flee.

“Looking at this warrant, I see a few things that are consistent with my mind with fear on his part, not necessarily criminal intent to flee,” Lage said. “Since being apprehended, the gravity of this situation has certainly made itself clear.”

At a press conference Thursday afternoon at the Seymour Police Department, one of the Tamborras’ three children, Kenneth Tamborra, thanked police, the press, the public — and the anonymous tipster who identified Irigoyen-Flores to police Wednesday.

The family is still suffering from a “gaping hole” left by his parents’ deaths which they’re feeling all the more during the holiday season, he said. But he said he smiled after getting a phone call Thursday morning telling him about the arrest in the case.

“I knew eventually somebody would say something,” he said. “I’m just glad it happened sooner rather than later. Hearing he was about to flee to Mexico just puts a cold chill in your heart.”

Seymour Police Chief Paul Satkowski also thanked the person who called in the tip.

“You’re a godsend,” Satkowski said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

The chief said investigators had worked tirelessly since the crash tracking down tips — including stopping motorists at a roadblock last Friday near the scene of the crash — but “with little to no success” until the tip came in Wednesday.

Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Charles Stango, the prosecutor who signed the arrest warrant, said he was notified about 11 p.m. Wednesday about the tip.

“We had to really speed up the clock,” he said. “It was a complex investigation that we really brought to a head because we were aware of the fact that we might have lost the individual forever.”

In the warrant, a neighbor of Irigoyen-Flores, who said he had borrowed her car, said he called her crying when he got home on the night of Dec. 10. The warrant said he told her “he did not know if he hit someone or something on his way home from work.” She told investigators he kept saying he couldn’t see them because it was dark, the warrant states.

The vehicle involved — a 2015 Acura RDX — was seized by police and would be searched for forensic evidence, Satkowski said.

Stango said it’s too early to tell whether further charges could be possible.

Misconduct with a motor vehicle is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison brought in cases of negligent driving which causes a death. Evading responsibility is punishable by up to 20 years in prison when the accident involves a death.

“Right now the charges that were brought in the warrant are appropriate with the facts that we have,” Stango said.

Irigoyn-Flores is scheduled to return to court Feb. 14.