STONINGTON, Conn. — Stonington Police Detectives say they have located & seized the suspect vehicle involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed local resident and school custodian Gary Piver.
Investigators say they located the vehicle, originally described as a dark grey Toyota SUV, at a residence in the town. They identified both the vehicle and the suspect "by utilizing town cameras, private cameras & license plate reader (LPR) cameras." Police have not announced any arrests and say the deadly crash is still under investigation.
That investigation began at approximately 10:44 p.m. on Monday as police responded to a report of a motor vehicle vs. cyclist accident in the area of 210 South Broad Street in the Pawcatuck section of Stonington.
Police say officers discovered that a cyclist had been struck by a vehicle traveling West on South Broad Street and the suspect vehicle had left the scene. The cyclist, identified as Gary F. Piver., was transported to Westerly Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The lifelong Stonington resident would have turned 70 years old on Tuesday.
Piver was an avid cyclist, and the custodian at Stonington High School. Superintendent Mary Anne Butler released a statement on Wednesday that read:
A lifelong resident of Stonington, Gary Piver was a dedicated member of the Stonington Public Schools community. He began his tenure as a substitute teacher in 1978. After pursuing an education in microbiology and career goals in research, Gary returned to Stonington as a part-time custodian in 2006.
Gary was known to most as being a “gentle giant”. He was a kind and compassionate person to those he worked with at Stonington Public Schools. Gary was always accommodating when asked to perform any task. He would always greet people with a smile and often share a story or two and talk about his college days in Colorado or stories about his life. He was a known history buff and able to share many tales about the Village of Stonington Borough. Gary loved coffee and was often seen riding his bike with a cup of coffee in one hand and a handlebar in the other. He would ride his bike to work every day no matter the weather conditions and never missed a day in his seventeen years of service. Gary was an integral part of our district and will be dearly missed.
If you have any information on this deadly crash, please contact Stonington Police at 860-599-4411.
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