LITCHFIELD, Conn. — A Torrington man, who police say was driving on a learner's permit, is facing multiple charges after allegedly failing to move over for emergency vehicles early Sunday morning.
Jose Torres-Jimenez, 25, of Torrington, was charged with Operating Under the Influence of Drugs/Alcohol, Reckless Driving, Passing on the Right, and Failure to Move Over or Reduce Speed for Emergency Vehicles. He was released on a $500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 25.
At 2:47 a.m. state police troopers were stopped on the right shoulder of Route 8 northbound in the area of Exit 42, in Litchfield. One trooper was checking on a disabled vehicle and a second trooper had stopped a vehicle just north of the first trooper’s location.
The trooper checking on the disabled vehicle was parked on the right shoulder with their cruiser's emergency lights activated and saw a blue Jeep Patriot approaching his location, traveling at a high rate of speed in the nearest lane to the trooper.
The Jeep remained in the right lane while passing the two stopped state police vehicles, in violation of Connecticut’s “Move Over” law, according to police. The trooper got on to Route 8 and saw the Jeep using the right lane to pass other drivers and clocked the Jeep traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour. They stopped the Jeep in the area of Exit 44 in Torrington.
Torres-Jimenez was operating the Jeep with a Connecticut Adult Learner’s Permit. While speaking with Torres-Jimenez and an adult passenger in the vehicle, the trooper said Torres-Jimenez was exhibiting signs of possible impairment. Torres-Jimenez failed field sobriety tests.
Last week, a trooper and a Cromwell firefighter were injured in a crash when they were struck at the scene of a crash. In 2022, a tow truck driver was killed in North Haven when a driver allegedly failed to move over.
Doug Stewart is the Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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