Man charged with manslaughter in connection with fatal accident

CROMWELL — A New Britain man was arrested and charged Monday with firstdegree manslaughter, among other offenses, in connection with a October fatal accident in Cromwell.

Dayquan Hibbert, 28, of Covington Street, was charged with a series of offenses, including first-degree manslaughter, operating under the influence of alcohol / drugs, reckless driving, disobeying signal of officer, operating with a suspended license, operating without minimum insurance, and failure to obey an officer’s signals, according to a release from Connecticut State Police.

According to police, Hibbert and a passenger, John Griffin, attempted to exit I-91 South on Exit 21 in Cromwell on October 26, but “departed the left side of the ramp” while attempting to navigate a curve and struck a tree.

Griffin was declared dead at the scene. Hibbert was transported to Hartford Hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.

According to an affidavit attached to the release, a trooper with Troop H had observed Hibbert’s vehicle traveling “at a rate of speed above the posted speed limit” and attempted to stop the vehicle.

Hibbert then “accelerated away in an attempt to elude” the trooper, passing vehicles as he went along, including by traveling in the breakdown lane, before crashing after attempting to take the off ramp, according to the affidavit.

The Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad was called in to investigate the incident “due to the seriousness of the collision and the involvement of the Connecticut State Police-Troop ‘H’ Hartford,” according to the release.

The investigation determined that Hibbert violated Connecticut law during the incident, according to the release. He was arrested Monday and held in lieu of a $200,000 cash / surety bond.

Hibbert is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Middletown on Tuesday, police said.