New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Driver killed on I-91 remembered as big-hearted animal lover
A tow truck driver who died on the side of Interstate 91 in North Haven while helping a stranded motorist was remembered Tuesday as an open-minded, big-hearted animal lover and a master of his trade.
The tow truck driver, Chris Russell, of Ellington, was a co-worker and best friend to Katie Napolitan, who began working parttime at Recovery Towing & Transport in South Windsor in 2020 when she lost her day care job because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russell was killed when he was hit by a car Saturday evening near Exit 11, state police said.
“Chris was just a funloving, goofy, open-hearted guy,” she said. “If you needed Chris’ help, give him a phone call, and he’d be there.”
Napolitan leaned on Russell’s towing expertise shortly after she started with RTT. Although he only worked at the company two years, Russell had a lot of experience in the towing business, she said.
“Chris taught me everything,” Napolitan said. “He answered all my questions.” He told her she could call him at any hour if she needed help, even at 3 a.m., she said. And she did.
“I’ve gotten stuck on a call and I’d be like ‘Chris, I don’t know what to do, I’m stuck,’ ” she said. “He could just walk me through it and calm me down.”
Russell had confidence in her, she said, “even when I didn’t have confidence in myself. He was like a brother.”
She got an up-close look at his skills when the company had more drivers than trucks, or it was slow and they doubled up.
“He was a walking towtruck dictionary,” Napolitan said. “If there’s a car in a ditch, he knew how to get it out. If there’s a car on its side, he knew how to flip it over. If there’s a car without a tire, he knew how to get it on the flatbed. He knew all the tips and tricks.”
When he wasn’t towing, Russell worked to rehabilitate injured animals, mostly squirrels, Napolitan said. He started doing that after an acquaintance told him a mother squirrel had died, but her offspring survived, when a tree was cut down. Russell took in the baby squirrel and started doing the same for others in consultation with wildlife rehabilitators, she said.
“It’s really sad to see he won’t see the rehabs through to the end,” Napolitan said, her voice cracking.
The last thing Russell said to her was about his animals, she said.
“That was the last conversation we had on Saturday. It was about food for the animals,” Napolitan said: He asked her to buy him hay and a hamster wheel for his latest patient, a flying squirrel, and treats for his tropical bird, she said.
At dinnertime, Russell was heading north on I-91, coming back from a job, when he saw a woman in a car at the side of the highway, Napolitan said. The car had a flat tire and he changed it, she said.
“He was on his way back from a call. He saw this lady and, knowing Chris, he just saw her and said, ‘I need to help her,’ and he just stopped,” Napolitan said.
Russell had apparently finished the tire change — his tools had been put away — and was in the breakdown lane behind the Mazda when a northbound car struck him. Napolitan said she doesn’t know if he was on his way to talk to the woman or was returning to his tow truck.
Russell was thrown against the Mazda and fell to the ground. He died at the scene.
The car police suspect struck him, a Nissan, was found up the highway, near Exit 14 in Wallingford, state police said. The man in the driver’s seat was unconscious, they said.
State police said Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made. Such investigations generally take months, said Trooper Sarah Salerno, a state police spokesperson.
In the meantime, Napolitan has a message for drivers: If they’re not able to drive for some reason, “please don’t get behind the wheel,” she said. There are plenty of other options including ride-share services.
As for Napolitan, “I’m still processing,” she said. “I just want the phone to ring, and it to be him.”