Police have identified the driver that hit a police cruiser on Derby Avenue Tuesday evening.
William A. Marinelli, 53, of Cedar Crest Drive in Southbury, was charged Tuesday with driving while intoxicated, two counts of risk of injury to a minor, making an improper left turn and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.
Police said Marinelli had a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit and he failed field sobriety tests.
He was released on a $2,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned at Superior Court in Derby on Sept. 20.
The Accident
The accident happened just before 8:30 p.m., on Derby Avenue near Emery Street.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were being dispatched to a report of a structure fire on the road, according to a press release issued by Lt. Paul Satkowski Wednesday afternoon.
Officer Richard Sprandel, who has been with the department for 10 years, was driving north on Derby Avenue toward the fire, when Marinelli pulled his Dodge pick-up truck over to the side of the road to let the police cruiser pass, Satkowski wrote.
But as Sprandel’s cruiser passed Marinelli’s truck, Marinelli allegedly turned left into the road, striking the police cruiser.
Sprandel was taken to Griffin Hospital with minor injuries, and was treated and released.
Both vehicles were later towed from the scene.
Derby Avenue was shut down for several hours and traffic was diverted around the accident scene until the completion of the accident investigation.
The risk of injury charges were because Marinelli had two teenage males in his vehicle at the time of the accident, police said.
