CROMWELL, Conn. — A Cromwell man is facing several charges, including manslaughter in connection with the death of a tow truck driver.
The tow truck operator, 38-year-old Christopher Russell, was struck and killed by a vehicle on Interstate 91 in North Haven in May 2022.
State police were called to the crash around 6:30 p.m. that evening, with initial reports saying that the vehicle that struck Russell by Exit 10 had continued driving on the highway before "becoming disabled" near Exit 14.
The trooper responding to the Exit 10 area saw a Mazda and a tow truck parked on the highway's right shoulder. The Mazda had damage to its rear bumper and trunk as well as a broken rear windshield.
The tow truck was parked behind the Mazda and had no visible damage, police had said.
Russel was seen lying in the road between the Mazda and the tow truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another trooper responded to the disabled vehicle located at the Exit 14 scene in Wallingford.
There, troopers found a red Nissan Rogue with visible damage to its entire driver's side as well as its right front quarter panel.
The trooper found the driver, then 54-year-old Luis Resto, unresponsive behind the wheel. Wallingford EMS first responders suspected Resto of being under the influence of narcotics and provided treatment at the scene before he was taken to Midstate Medical Center for further evaluation.
State police went on to interview the driver of the Mazda that was alongside the highway that Russell responded to.
Investigators were told that the driver had noticed her right front tire had flattened as she was driving north on the highway just after 6 p.m. She pulled over just before Exit 11 and put on her hazard lights, and pulled tools from her trunk.
Russell then pulled up and parked on the shoulder behind her. Russell had reportedly asked if she needed help with the tire change. The driver reported seeing the lights on the tow truck illuminated as Russell helped with the tire.
After the tire change, Russell returned to the truck and the driver returned to her Mazda. As she was about to pull away, something impacted the back of her car and she saw a red-colored vehicle, believed to be Resto's Nissan, continuing to drive north.
The Mazda's driver got out of her car and saw damage to her car's windshield and trunk before seeing Russell lying on the ground, unresponsive and without a pulse.
The driver began performing CPR as she called 911.
At the hospital, investigators interviewed Resto, who said he had just left a friend's house in New Haven and bought a small bag of heroin. According to state police, Resto said he "consumed" the bag before heading onto I-91. Resto claimed he didn't remember getting into a crash and only remembered paramedics putting him onto a stretcher.
Resto allowed investigators to search his car but reportedly declined an examination by a Drug Recognition Expert, state police said.
Investigators at that point concluded that Russell had been walking back to his truck on its driver's side and that, at the same time, Resto began drifting over from the right lane into the shoulder, where he struck Russell. Resto then reportedly drove another five miles before crashing into the wire guardrail by Exit 14.
Two days after the crash, a witness met with investigators and claimed to have dashcam footage of the crash.
The witness told investigators that they were driving in the right lane and saw Russell's tow truck with flashing yellow lights. They then reportedly saw Resto's Nissan crash five to six times into the metal guardrail near Exit 12 and that traffic was slowing down due to Resto's erratic driving.
The witness then said that the Nissan struck the metal guardrail between exits 12 and 13 before they lost sight of the vehicle and saw it hit the guardrail along the left side of the road and come to a stop on the left shoulder by Exit 14.
Stopping their vehicle and approaching the Nissan, the witness saw a man in the driver's seat who they described as "gasping for air," according to state police. Resto was also "incoherent," the witness reported. A "vape-like" object was also reportedly in Resto's hand.
After learning of the fatal collision on the news and reviewing their camera footage, the witness contacted the police.
State police confirmed the witness' account of what happened through their dashcam footage which showed the erratic manner in which Resto was driving. It also captured Russell's tow truck, and the Mazda parked along the shoulder.
The next day, after speaking with the witness, detectives with the Central District Major Crime Squad examined and collected evidence from inside Resto's SUV. The various bits of evidence included a wax paper fold that contained a white, powdery substance.
Several months later, in January of this year, the Officer of the Chief Medical Examiner certified that Russell's cause of death indicated a "blunt impact injury of head, torso, and extremities" and labeled the cause of death an "accident."
On March 21, investigators were told that the white, powdery substance tested positive for fentanyl and xylazine. On the same day, evidence collected from the Nissan's passenger side front fender concluded that it was a "human hair fragment" and "other trace material."
State police said that based on the evidence, they concluded that Resto had failed to drive in the confines of the right lane on I-91 north and that Resto was improperly driving in the acceleration lane when he struck Russell.
After crashing into Russell, the Nissan crept further into the right shoulder and crashed into the back of the Mazda before Resto continued driving.
A warrant was applied for Resto's arrest on March 30.
On April 3, just shy of one year following the crash, Resto turned himself into Troop I after learning of the warrant, state police said.
Resto was charged with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, first-degree reckless endangerment, misconduct with a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance (second offense), driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs/alcohol, evading responsibility resulting in death, failing to maintain a proper lane, and illegal operation - failing to move over for an emergency vehicle.
Resto could not post a court-set $50,000 bond and was taken to the New Haven Correctional Center. He was seen in court on Tuesday.
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