Driver charged in fiery highway bridge crash in Connecticut dies of cancer
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/01/2025 (419 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man charged with causing a fiery crash that shut down a major highway bridge and killed a truck driver has died of cancer.
Reginald Collins, 60, died on Dec. 1, prompting the negligent homicide and other charges he faced to be officially dropped in New London Superior Court earlier this month, The Day reports.
Collins’ lawyer called the dismissal “somewhat bittersweet” for his family.
“Obviously, they were happy that the charges were dropped however we would have liked Reginald to be present to hear it for himself,” Anthony Basilica said in an email Friday. “Personally, I was shocked he was ever charged in the first place.”
State police said the New London resident caused an April 2023 crash on the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.
The span, which is state’s largest passenger and truck bridge, links New London and Groton along Interstate 95, a major artery between New York and Boston.
Police said Collins had stopped in the right lane of the highway when his vehicle’s tire blew out. x
A fuel delivery truck then crashed into Collins’ car, flipped over and caught fire, spilling some 2,200 gallons (8,340 liters) of home heating oil, some of which entered the river.
The 42-year-old truck driver was killed while Collins and his passenger were pulled to safety by other motorists.
Police said Collins created a “traffic hazard” by failing to activate his car’s hazard lights and pull onto the shoulder of the road.
Collins maintained he couldn’t pull over because his car was disabled.
“Dash cam video from a passing motorist shows Mr. Collins’ vehicle stopped for over 20 seconds. Others who passed by had no difficulty maneuvering around him,” Basilica said Friday. “In the end this was a tragic accident that could have been avoided.”
He had pleaded not guilty to negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, improper parking, failure to register his vehicle and illegally operating a vehicle without proper insurance coverage.