Miguel Alvarado stepped out of his apartment to walk his girlfriend to her car. A passing truck driver slammed into him, sent him flying into a parked car, and drove off into the night. Two months later, he finally left Yale-New Haven — and police have no leads on the driver.
The hit-and-run landed Alvarado in the hospital on Nov. 13. He spent Christmas and New Year’s there. He’s endured two painful knee surgeries to rebuild broken bones and torn tendons and nerves. Thursday he was scheduled finally to come home.
Meanwhile, Alvarado hasn’t been able to work his two restaurant jobs, which means he can’t send checks home to two sons in Mexico.
On a recent afternoon, Alvarado sat on the edge of his bed on the seventh floor of Yale-New Haven Hospital, recounting the crash and its aftermath. His bruised and swollen right knee was lined with stapled stitches. Metal rods emerged from his leg above and below the joint, connecting his leg to a hinged stabilizer. A half-eaten cheeseburger remained on a tray nearby.
Alvarado arrived six years ago from Mexico. He lives in an apartment above his uncle’s restaurant, El Amigo Felix, at the corner of Whalley Avenue and Howe Street.
Speaking Spanish, he recounted the events of Friday, Nov. 13:
It was around 12:15 a.m. Alvarado left his apartment to walk his girlfriend to her car so she could drive back to her home in Stratford. Her car was parked on the east side of Howe Street.
Alvarado saw her to her car. Then he stood in the street and shut her door after she got in. Suddenly a grey SUV barreled into him, sending him flying into the car parked in front of his girlfriend’s car. He ended up on the ground between the cars, while the SUV sped away. The grey vehicle turned right on Broadway, towards downtown.
Lying on the ground, Alvarado touched his head. He saw blood cover his hand. He tried to get up; he realized his leg wasn’t working.
An ambulance took him to Yale-New Haven, where doctors found that the crash had torn nerves and tendons in his knee. He’s since undergone two surgeries on his knee. It’s been a painful experience, he said. He’s on a lot of medication.
With regular physical therapy, he’s now able to flex his knee. This Tuesday he had pins removed. He’ll have to walk with crutches; it will be a long time before he’s fully recovered.
That will make it hard for Alvarado to work his two jobs. He works mornings as a prep cook at Margarita’s restaurant in Branford and afternoons as a cook at Friendly’s in Branford. The two jobs allow him to send money home to his two sons in Mexico. They’re 11 and 7 years old. Alvarado said Tuesday he intends to return to work within a week.
“My sons depend on me,” Alvarado said.
Uncle Felix Not Happy
Felix Rayas, Alvarado’s uncle, was on the scene just after the accident happened on Nov. 13. He saw the police, firefighters, and EMTs arrive. He didn’t like what he saw.
“The police didn’t ask a single question!” Rayas claimed. “All they said is, ‘An ambulance is coming.’”
Rayas said he is upset that police had not done more to investigate the crime. They should have asked Alvarado and his girlfriend what they had seen and which way the car had gone, he said.
Rayas said the police report had errors, including a sentence stating that the car turned left onto Whalley Avenue after hitting Alvarado. The car actually turned right onto Broadway, he said.
Alvarado said police had not contacted him since the accident to ask him questions or update him on any investigation. He said he feels that police have not paid attention to his case.
Rayas said he reached out to police after the incident to find out about their efforts to solve the crime. He said he was given conflicting information about traffic cameras that may have had video footage that could identify the car involved. One officer said the cameras were working. Another said they weren’t.
“I feel bad,” Rayas said. “They’re not doing their job.”
But a police report from Nov. 13 states that police did speak with Alvarado and his girlfriend about what they saw.
Asst. Chief Ken Gillespie said on Wednesday that police had gotten nowhere with their investigation of the incident. “It’s basically a dead end,” he said.
He said the police had too little information to go on — no detailed description of the vehicle or its driver, no license plate number.
On the night of the incident, police put out a description of the car that fled, Gillespie said.
Gillespie said police had spoken with Rayas, Alvarado’s uncle.
Rayas said late Wednesday that no one from the police department had contacted him.