WATERFORD, Conn. — A portion of Niantic River Road in Waterford was shut down for several hours Monday today following a fatal accident involving a car and a landscaper.
Just before 9 am, a landscaper was struck by a car and the sun may have played a role.
"The information we have right now is that he was working in the roadway with a couple of other workers at the time of the accident," said Waterford Police Lt. Tim Silva.
While police believe the 80-year-old male driver, who struck and killed the 21-year-old landscaper, had his sun visor pulled down, the sun was low in the sky at that time of the morning.
The victim, identified later as Joshua Molyneux of Chester, was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.
"We’re going to see if that played a part in this accident if an obstructed view impacted any of that" Silva said.
Joshua's family said he was the sweetest person and kindest soul in the world. He was loved not only by his close knit family but by all off his friends.
The Waterford police accident reconstruction team was hard at work all morning.
"They’ve got specialized training and equipment that’s going to allow us to learn exactly where everything was at the scene," said Silva. "The distances between pieces."
Among their training: auto electronic specialists, who analyze vehicle data.
"That will give us you know distances so we can come up with approximate speeds, where vehicles were, where people were standing at the time," Silva added.
A source tells FOX61 it was the landscaper's first day on the job for Sullivan Lawn Services. The company declined to comment.
Molyneux would have celebrated his 22nd birthday later this week.