HIGHWAY OPENED AGAIN
Route 32 in Franklin between New Park Avenue and Route 2 at the Norwich town line is reopened to traffic after a tanker truck carrying liquid nitrogen overturned there around 11:30 this morning. State police, fire, and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection were at the scene, as the non-toxic liquid nitrogen had to vented from the tanker. Surrounding businesses were evacuated as a precaution. No injuries reported. The overturned tanker caught fire earlier in the morning while on I-95 in Clinton. The tanker rolled off a tow truck while traveling through Franklin. It was on its way to Bozrah. Route 32 re-opened around 5 PM.
ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION ARREST
A 34-year old registered sex offender in Stonington is being charged with trying to abduct a 16-year old girl last month in Groton City. Police accuse 34-year old Matthew Klotz of hiding in the bushes near Shore Avenue and South Prospect Street June 25th around 3 PM, grabbing the victim, and trying to force her into a vehicle, but she got away. Klotz was sentenced to eight years in prison, after pleading no contest to trying to abduct a young woman who was jogging in Narragansett, Rhode Island in 2011. He was paroled in April of last year. He’s currently being held on 500-thousand dollars bond.
EAST LYME POLICE CHASE
Two people have been charged with leading police on a high-speed chase on I-95 in East Lyme and Old Lyme, while in a stolen vehicle. 34-year old Staci Trudeau of Moosup, and 28-year old John Rogers of Hartford were driving southbound near Exit 72 around 12:30 this morning, when the chase began. Police determined the vehicle the two suspects were in was stolen from Middletown. The driver intentionally hit two police cruisers during the chase. Rogers was the driver, and he’s being held on 100-thousand dollars bond, as he was out on parole. Trudeau is out on 5-thousand dollars bond, and is due in court July 20th. No injuries reported.
NORWICH DRUG ARREST
Norwich police have charged a 25-year old man with possessing crack cocaine with an intent to sell. 25-year old Deshawn Favors, of no certain address, was found sitting in a parked car at a closed business on Maennerchor Avenue in Taftville this morning. Police found he had about 12 grams of the drug in a plastic baggie, as well as more than 11-hundred dollars in cash. Favors was also charged with outstanding arrest warrants in connection with an on-going crack distribution investigation, an assault case, and two counts for failing to appear in court. He’s being held on 350-thousand dollars bond, and is due in court Monday.
UCONN CAMPUS SALE
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Trustees for the University of Connecticut have voted to sell the former West Hartford campus to a technology company that plans to use it for its headquarters. The university is selling the campus for $5.2 million to Seven Stars Cloud Group, which is led by Chinese billionaire Bruno Wu. UConn stopped using the 58-acre property when it began operations at its new location in downtown Hartford. The state is providing a $10 million loan to Seven Stars as an incentive. The company says it plans to employ over 400 people at the site. The trustees voted unanimously to approve the sale on Friday.
RUNNING FROM ICE
DANBURY, Conn. (AP) – Police say a man trying to run from federal immigration authorities near a Connecticut courthouse has been struck and injured by an unmarked police cruiser. Danbury police tell the News-Times that agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were pursing the man on foot near Danbury Superior Court on Friday when the man was hit by a red Ford Taurus. The car was driven by a Brookfield police officer who was dropping off paperwork at the courthouse and was not involved in the pursuit. No names were immediately released. Witnesses told the newspaper the man was flung 10 feet into the air then tried to run again but was ordered to stop and was handcuffed. He was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.
COMPANY CITED FOR QUARRY MISHAP
WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) – The federal government has cited a Massachusetts blasting company for its role in a Westerly, RI quarry blast that injured two workers and damaged nearby buildings. The Mine Safety and Health Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, says it has issued two citations to Uxbridge’s A-1 Drilling & Blasting for violations of federal regulations. Potential monetary penalties have not yet been issued. In May, two town workers who had pulled off to a roadside were injured when chunks of granite flew away from the blast site and smashed through the rear window of their trick. Town buildings were also damaged by granite. Christopher Keefe, the A-1 employee who conducted the May 23 blast, said he could not comment without permission.
