GROTON, Conn. — One woman is dead and another person is still fighting for their life after a crash involving a car and a dirt bike Monday night in Groton.
“They’re operating recklessly. Complete disregard to traffic, to safety standards. They have no headlights on some of the vehicles,” said Chief L.J. Fusaro Jr. with the Groton Police Department.
Groton Police said around 9:30 p.m. Monday, a driver was using a green arrow to turn left into the Groton Shopping Center when one of the dirt bikes hit the car, ejecting both people from the bike. Police said the passenger, 24-year-old Tiara Wheeler of Norwich, was pronounced dead on the scene. The operator, 25-year-old Scott Whipple of Mashantucket, is, at last check, still listed in critical condition.
Chief Fusaro said Wheeler’s family is “distraught”.
“From what I understand, this young lady had a bright future ahead of her, came from a good family,” Fusaro said. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through.”
Fusaro said his officers likely witnessed the same group earlier in the day, doing donuts and trying to bait them. It’s a problem that is plaguing many Connecticut communities.
“It’s a growing problem. It’s happened in many municipalities across the state. It’s happened here, it’s happened in some our adjoining communities. Unfortunately, because of this type of activity, this was bound to happen. We’ve been saying that for quite a while,” Fusaro said.
One thing in particular is keeping Fusaro up at night…the fact that the other riders were focused on something else, instead of helping the two people who were severely injured.
“Rather than treating those people and caring for their presumably, friends, they took the dirt bike that they were on and left. That’s callous,” Fusaro said.
Police said there were several different eyewitnesses who saw the incident take place and are working with police.
And while State Rep. Christine Conley, who represents Groton and New London, didn’t see it happen, she heard it while coming out of a meeting about a mile away.
“My thoughts go out to the family. It’s just horrible what they’re going through now,” Rep. Conley said.
Since the crash and even prior, Rep. Conley has been in talks with others on how they can prevent something like this from happening in the future.
“I think we need to talk about, where do these youths need to be. What do we need to do for programs for younger people,” Rep. Conley said.
Police are reconstructing the crash, following up on leads, and hoping to identify the other riders involved in the incident.
In the meantime, they hope to educate the public to stop a tragedy like this from ever happening again.
“The help we’d like from the public is to convince people to stop this behavior. If you know somebody who’s out there riding dirt bikes, kids, family members, just knock it off. It’s not safe for them. It’s certainly not safe for the motoring public. Obviously, this isn’t a game because we’ve had somebody here in this town die because of it,” Fusaro said.
If anyone witnessed the crash or has other information that would assist officers with this case, you’re asked to call the Groton Police Department at 860-441-6712.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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