Police arrested a 43-year-old woman for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol and fleeing a scene where she fatally struck a cyclist on Ella Grasso Boulevard Sunday at 12:45 p.m.
Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman:
New Havener Ranko Borak was riding his bicycle on the 500 block of the Boulevard near the flea market in the Hill when, according to two witnesses, the driver of a Ford Taurus struck him, then fled the scene. The crash threw Borak over a guardrail. Emergency medics arrived on the scene and couldn’t revive him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
One witness got a photo of the fleeing Ford Taurus and followed it until losing the tail at Orange Avenue.
“Minutes later, a call was placed to police from a motorist on Interstate 91. The caller described a similar car with a damaged windshield. It had nearly struck the caller’s car and was ready to exit the highway at Exit 3. Officers in the area fanned out, searching for it and its operator. Officer O’Dino Rasile was at State and Humphrey Streets when the call came in. He traversed several side streets in the area and spotted the wanted car at Orange and Bradley Streets,” Hartman reported in a release.
The driver said she hadn’t been in a crash. “This [was] before a crash was mentioned,” Hartman noted.
The driver took a field sobriety test, which showed a blood alcohol content of 0.2062, significantly higher than the legal limit of .08.
Police charged the driver with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle while intoxicated, felony evading of responsibility, driving with a suspended license, and driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
Hartman said police are trying to find Borak’s next of kin, who are believed to be living out of the country.
I predict our suburban police force will find some way to let the unlucky driver off the hook.
In a suburban municipality, this would be a manslaughter case, with the driver going to jail for 3-5 years....