The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
4 killed in fiery wrong-way Merritt crash
STRATFORD — Connecticut State Police say four people were killed in a fiery crash on the Merritt Parkway early Thursday after a wrong-way driver collided head-on with a minivan.
A total of 11 people have now died in Connecticut in 2024 in four wrong-way crashes, according to state Department of Transportation data, surpassing last year’s total of seven deaths.
State police identified three of the people killed early Thursday in the Chrysler Town and Country minivan that was struck by the wrong-way driver. They said the identity of the wrong-way driver, whose car burst into flames after the crash, is pending an autopsy due to the extent of the person’s injuries.
State police identified the occupants of the minivan as Easton residents Steven P. Rowland, 65, who was driving, and Thomas Lucian Vitale, 80, and Olga Vitale, 81.
Few neighbors were out and about Thursday in the Easton neighborhoods where the Vitales and Rowland lived. The neighborhoods contained large properties dotted with farmhouses, barns and tennis courts.
One neighbor, Beth Chepolis, said she moved to the area last July and didn’t know the Vitale couple too well except to exchange pleasantries.
“He was very nice,” she said of Thomas Vitale.
State police said troopers began receiving reports of a wrong-way driver in the southbound lanes of Route 15 around 1:45 a.m.
Dispatchers were then notified that the wrongway vehicle had been “involved in a head-on collision and was engulfed in flames,” according to a summary of the crash provided by state police.
The agency said a preliminary investigation determined the wrong-way driver had been heading north on the southbound side of the parkway in a 2016 Honda CRV with Massachusetts license plates. The Honda then struck the Chrysler minivan driven by Rowland, the report said.
All four of the occupants were pronounced dead at the scene, according to state police.
State police said both sides of the Merritt were initially shut down, but the northbound side was later reopened before the morning rush hour. The southbound side of the parkway remained closed for about seven hours, state police said.
State Police Sgt. Luke Davis said a trooper was also involved in a “separate collision” while responding to the wrongway crash.
“A passerby stopped their vehicle in the roadway in attempts to render aid” at the wrong-way crash, Davis said. “Initial reports indicate that this vehicle was stopped in a lane with no lights illuminated.”
He said the trooper sustained minor injuries.
A summary of the crash released by state police Thursday afternoon identified the trooper who was injured as Luis Morales.
The summary said the trooper was heading north on Route 15 near Exit 53 in the left lane responding to the fatal crash. His cruiser’s lights and sirens were activated, the summary said.
The trooper rear-ended a 2024 Honda Ridgeline pickup truck.
State police said the truck’s driver stopped when he saw the wrongway crash scene on the opposite side of the parkway.
The man parked in the left lane, got out of his truck and “attempted to assist those involved in the collision” on the southbound side, the report said.
The trooper was taken to Bridgeport Hospital for minor injuries, the summary said.
The report said enforcement action on the Madison driver “is pending.”
Officials say wrongway crashes typically occur at night and often involve drivers who are intoxicated.
Last year, seven people were killed in five wrongway crashes in Connecticut, according to data from the state DOT.
Among those killed was state Rep. Quentin “Q” Williams, a legislator from Middletown. State police said Williams was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver on Route 9 after leaving the governor’s inaugural ball. The crash also claimed the life of 27-year-old Manchester resident Kimede Mustafaj, who state police said was driving the wrong way.
Williams’ death came after fatal wrong-way crashes in Connecticut ballooned in 2022 when 23 people were killed in 13 wrong-way collisions, according to the DOT data. In 2021, four people were killed in four wrong-way crashes, the DOT said.
Williams’ death brought renewed focus to the issue of wrong-way crashes.
A DOT program has begun upgrading some of the state’s exit ramps to detect when drivers enter going the wrong way.
Officials have said wrong-way drivers typically go up an exit ramp at night, and then get on the highway in the left lane, assuming they’re in the right lane.
The enhanced exit ramps are able to detect when drivers try to enter the highway the wrong way. Signs then illuminate with LED lights to alert drivers they are going the wrong way.
The system also notifies the DOT Highway Operation Center, which will try to track the vehicle on traffic cameras, according to the DOT. At the same time, state police are also notified so they can try to intercept the wrong-way driver.
The flasher systems have not been installed in the section of the Merritt where Thursday’s crash occurred, according to Samaia Hernandez, a DOT spokesperson. She said it was not immediately known where the driver got on the parkway going the wrong way.
As of last week, Hernandez said the DOT installed 47 of the wrongway detection systems statewide and seven more were scheduled to be installed this week.
The agency plans to have more than 100 of the systems installed by the end of the year, Hernandez said.