The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Records: Man charged in fatal hit-and-run has history of driving-related offenses
A Greenwich man accused of killing two people in a hit-and-run in Stamford last month described himself to police as an “addict,” and records show he has spent time at an alcohol rehabilitation center and has previously been convicted of reckless driving and leaving the scene of a crash, according to court documents.
Court records show Michael Talbot totaled a woman’s car he was driving without her permission and fled the scene in 2018 — one year after pleading guilty in a fight in which police say he punched and shoved a woman to the ground.
Talbot, 24, is now in jail on $1.75 million bond after police say he was driving a 2022 Mercedes at 86 mph in a 25 mph zone when he struck Yuliana Arias Lozano and Giovani Vega Benis around 2 a.m. on Dec. 3. The fatal crash occurred as the 25-year-olds were crossing Washington Boulevard at Main Street after they finished working at nearby Cantina Mexicana.
Investigators determined Talbot “did not apply his brakes at any point,” according to his arrest warrant. After hitting the pedestrians, Talbot tried to drive away until he realized his car was disabled, Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Moran said during his arraignment.
“Please tell me I didn’t kill anyone tonight,” he cried to officers who found him hiding behind a shed in a nearby yard, according to the warrant.
When he later spoke to police, Talbot said he had been out drinking with friends, the warrant stated. He called himself an “addict” and admitted to leaving his car in the road when he realized it was disabled, the warrant said.
Near the end of the interview, police told him he would be released while they investigated further, and Talbot said, “I could have sworn I hit something or someone like tonight,” according to the warrant.
In the moments after the crash, the warrant indicated Talbot had a better understanding of what happened when he called his former boss to say he had “killed two people.”
Talbot was released as investigators built their case and was arrested five weeks later while playing bingo with family members on Marco Island, Fla. He was extradited on Jan. 13 to Connecticut, where he was charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter, two counts of seconddegree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, felony evading responsibility, operating under the influence and reckless operation.
Court records show Talbot has a history of driving offenses, including reckless driving, evading responsibility and second-degree criminal trover, a misdemeanor meaning he used and damaged someone’s personal property “knowing he has no right to do so and without the owner’s consent,” according to state law.
Attorney Eugene J. Zingaro said he is representing Talbot for the first time in the Stamford case and declined to comment further.
Reckless driving and fleeing after fight
Talbot’s adult arrest history dates back to 2016 when he was 18 years old. It’s unknown if he was arrested as a juvenile.
Manchester police charged Talbot with reckless driving, a misdemeanor, on Sept. 22, 2016. Details about the incident were not available, but judicial records show Talbot was found guilty of reckless driving in November 2017 and sentenced to 30 days in jail.
In June 2017, Talbot was charged in New Britain with third-degree assault, interfering with an officer and second-degree breach of peace in connection with punching and shoving a woman to the ground who was trying to break up his fight with another person, according to his arrest warrant application.
Talbot pleaded guilty to second-degree breach in November 2017 and received a suspended 90-day jail sentence and one year of conditional discharge, court records show.
According to his arrest warrant in the case, New Britain police were called to the Campus View Apartments on East Street for a reported fight on June 8, 2017.
In an interview with police, the victim said she was hanging out with friends in the parking lot when two men got into a fight and others started arguing. One witness told police Talbot “got on top of one of the males and began to punch him repeatedly with a closed fist,” the arrest warrant said.
The witness said the woman pleaded with Talbot to stop and he “punched her in the face and pushed her to the ground,” according to the warrant.
The woman got up and slapped Talbot in the face as others separated them, the warrant stated. The woman told police her face hurt and she scraped her hand, elbow and lower leg, according to the warrant.
An officer approached Talbot to speak with him and attempted to escort him away from the area “by grabbing his right arm.” Talbot then “swung his arm back at (the officer), just missing his face, and fled on foot toward East Street,” the warrant stated.
Later that day, Talbot and his mother went to the police department where he initially denied punching or pushing the woman, but said he got into a fight with other men at the scene, the warrant stated.
He said he “nudged” the woman off of him, but didn’t know whether she fell to the ground, and she slapped his face, the warrant said.
Talbot claimed the witnesses who said he punched the woman were “lying,” the warrant stated. An officer also asked him why he fled the scene and Talbot said he hid in the woods because he was scared, according to the warrant.
Evading crash
One year later, Talbot was accused of borrowing a woman’s car without permission and, while driving his friends to work, crashed into a rock bench in Salisbury and fled the scene, according to his arrest warrant application.
State troopers were called to Taconic Road on Sept. 29, 2018 for the reported crash. A witness told troopers the vehicle, a green Subaru Impreza, later returned so a passenger could retrieve the front bumper and license plate before leaving again, the warrant said.
Police noted that it appeared the vehicle knocked over the bench and a large rock on the grassy median. Both items were not damaged, police said in the warrant.
On Oct. 1, 2018, a trooper was dispatched to an auto body shop in Sharon where a Salisbury woman was getting her vehicle repaired. The woman told police she had been out of town when Talbot, who had been staying in her home for about a month, crashed her vehicle, the warrant stated. Before she left town, the woman told Talbot he could not use her vehicle and hid the keys, but he found a spare set, according to her statement to police.
The owner of the body shop told police the vehicle had been dropped off that day by Talbot and his mother, the warrant stated. The damage cost $11,000 and the vehicle was considered totaled, the warrant said.
In an interview with police, Talbot said he had been living with the woman and her son for about a month “as they took me in after I completed a sober living program in Canaan,” according to the warrant.
Talbot said he originally fled the crash because his passengers were late for work, the warrant stated. He also claimed he thought the vehicle belonged to the woman’s son and he was never told not to use that car, according to the warrant.
Talbot was charged on Oct. 18, 2018 with failure to maintain the proper lane, evading responsibility and second-degree criminal trover.
In December 2018, Talbot was convicted of evading responsibility and seconddegree criminal trover. He was given a one-year suspended jail sentence and two years of probation. His probation was terminated in December 2019, court records show.