Submitted by CT_EXAMINER t3_104k29x in StamfordCT
Comments
urbanevol t1_j36s1do wrote
Good, but why does it take one month to arrest someone who mowed down two people at high speed, fled the scene, and was caught hiding to evade the police?
Shortchange96 t1_j36zfov wrote
Although I agree with you he should’ve been arrested on site for DD at least and several other things, he would’ve bailed out the next day. The accident analysis took awhile and they wanted to make sure their ducks were in a row before going ahead with charges that will stick
urbanevol t1_j36zwhz wrote
That would be fine for him to post bail, but to not get arrested? Reeks of class / race privilege. If he had to go to a bail hearing, then they could have placed restrictions: e.g. no driving, no fucking around out of state, etc.
OTOH, the article says it is not clear if he was allowed to be out of state, so maybe we don't know all of the details.
Shortchange96 t1_j376qqz wrote
I agree. I have no idea why he wasn’t arrested the night of the accident. Fleeing the scene of a not only an accident, but one where two people died. I’m sure they could tell/administered a field sobriety test to know he was drunk. Class/race privilege or bad police work, something wasn’t right there. Glad it looks like they have him dead to rights though
Dot8911 t1_j37ljd7 wrote
There was another fatal crash in Norwalk in November and it took the police one month to arrest the driver, who happend to be hispanic.
https://patch.com/connecticut/norwalk/driver-charged-fatal-norwalk-crash-police
If you are arrested, you have the right to go before a judge and challenge the legality of your detention (habeas corpus). The police can't just hold someone indefinitely while they figure out what to charge them with. And in cases like this, it is really important to get the charges right because there are no do-overs (no double jeopardy) if the police screw it up.
Better to wait a bit to make the arrest than to have the driver get off on a technicality.
urbanevol t1_j37wufl wrote
This case is not very comparable. The Norwalk crash was a single vehicle in which the people that died were passengers in the car that crashed. The driver also went to the hospital. In the Stamford case, the driver ran over two pedestrians, fled the scene, and hid from the police. A fatal hit-and-run is enough to arrest someone. Charges can be added later.
Dot8911 t1_j386alw wrote
My point is the delay has to do with the due process of law. If you compare the list of charges they are comparable cases.
Also who cares if the victims were passengers or pedestrians, all of them deserve justice.
urbanevol t1_j38abfd wrote
Where did I say that the Norwalk victims didn't deserve justice?
The cases would be comparable if the Norwalk driver had run away from the scene of the accident and hid from police.
Tianyulong t1_j38emfl wrote
At least he’ll be going to jail for a long time. Man, what a way to absolutely ruin your life. How hard is it to not drive when drunk?
OstrichEquivalent781 t1_j3h1u1n wrote
I think a news article explaining why the process was taking so long should’ve been published much sooner, but today there’s finally some more transparency. According to the article it’s not atypical for it to take months to arrest a driver— in all the fatal accidents in Stamford last year, it took 3-5 months to arrest the driver if chargers were filed. The district attorney basically need to gather all potential evidence that could be presented in a courtroom, from video footage to medical records and even auto repair records so that when the evidence is presented in front of a jury there will be more than enough to convict and send to prison. Let me know if there is a paywall with this link but I think it should work. Im thinking of the families of Vega and Arias. 🙏 https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Stamford-fatal-crash-Greenwich-took-5-weeks-17698000.php
SippieCup t1_j36yled wrote
I think you aptly explained why it took a month. Which isn't that bad all things considered.
Greg_Pim t1_j38k9x0 wrote
I knew the guy. Was a member at LA Fitness where I work. Literally had a full conversation with him at my desk days before the accident. Tragic. Prayers for the families.
daybeers t1_j44dcyd wrote
Was it an accident tho?
Greg_Pim t1_j44mlks wrote
Drunk and speeding
daybeers t1_j48m5o1 wrote
Right. It's good practice to refer traffic incidents as crashes, not accidents, since that's very rarely what they are (ex. mechanical failure). >99% of the time, there's a reason, like distraction, impairment, speeding, poor road design, or procrastinated maintenance.
yeetgod__ t1_j361292 wrote
Cool
fuhry t1_j36x96e wrote
24 year old from Greenwich driving a 2022 Mercedes.
Probably the first time he's experienced any consequences in his life.