Nathan Torres. Photo from Seymour PD
SEYMOUR — A 24-year-old Bridgeport man has been in charged in connection to a fatal car wreck on Rimmon Street last spring.
According to a statement late Friday from Seymour Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Satkowski, Nathan Torres is charged with:
- Manslaughter in the second degree while intoxicated
- Three counts of second-degree assault with a motor vehicle
- Two counts of risk of injury to a minor
- Driving while intoxicated
- Reckless driving
- Driving without a license
Satkowski said police arrested Torres Wednesday.
Torres is due back in court in Derby Feb. 22.
Seymour police allege Torres was driving a speeding car packed with passengers when he lost control on Rimmon Street April 11, 2017.
The vehicle went airborne and smashed into a utility pole. The impact snapped the pole.
The wreck took the life of 20-year-old Shyheim Samuel, of Derby.
Several of the people who survived the wreck were underage teens. In all, four people were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Police suspected speed was a factor in the crash almost immediately.
Seymour police further allege that just before wrecking the car Torres had “conducted an illegal drug transaction” in Beacon Falls, just over the Seymour town line.
He is additionally charged with illegal sale of a hallucinogen or narcotic.
Seymour Police Sgt. David Parratt conducted the motor vehicle investigation.
“The cause of the accident was due to Torres operating the motor vehicle at an excessive rate of speed, in addition to operating under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs,” Satkowski said in a prepared statement.
Satkowski said Torres’ blood alcohol content was one-and-a-half times over the legal limit, and that he had marijuana “in his system.”
Police said they hope the arrest brings some type of closure to Samuel’s family.
Seymour police worked with the prosecutor’s office, the state police major case squad, and the state police accident reconstruction team to build a case.
