Police charged a 37-year-old Hamden man with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter and seven other counts for allegedly causing a Sept. 18 crash that killed a 65-year-old New Havener.
Police charged that the man was driving his 2005 Mercedes Benz C240 61.7 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone and blew three red lights before crashing into a Honda CR‑V at the intersection of Howe Street and Legion Avenue at 9:49 p.m. that day.
“From the force of the collision, the Honda CR‑V rotated ninety degrees and then the Honda CR‑V was struck by a Volkswagen Passat that traveled eastbound on Legion Avenue,” the detective in charge of the investigation, Sgt. Rose Dell, wrote in a release issued Tuesday.
She said the driver was under the influence at PCP at the time.
The crash caused “serious” injuries to three of the Honda occupants. A fourth, Manuel Portillo (aka Jose Umberto Bardales Portillo) of New Haven, later died from injuries caused by the crash.
Besides the two manslaughter offense, the Hamden man was also charged with three counts of assault in the second degree with a motor vehicle, misconduct with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, operating under the influence, and operating under suspenson.