Black Ice Results In I-84 Accidents

By Andrew Gorosko

Slippery black-ice conditions on Interstate 84 early on Sunday, February 10, resulted in two related motor vehicle accidents on the westbound side of the highway, near Exit 11, with a local woman being admitted as a patient at Danbury Hospital after receiving injuries in the second accident, officials said.

State police said motorist Christopher Lamparelli, 29, of Danbury was driving a 1996 Honda Accord westward on I-84 in the area between the Exit 11 off-ramp and the Exit 11 on-ramp at about 4:23 am, when he lost control of the auto on the slippery road surface while taking a curve to the right. The Honda slid to left, entered the road’s median and struck some trees.

Emily Moran, 24, of 8-A Homer Clark Lane was a passenger in the Honda, state police said. There were no injuries in that accident. Lamparelli received a written warning for failure to travel in the proper lane, state police said.

 Eleven minutes later, at about 4:34 am, Lamparelli, Moran, and Michael Patrick, 28, of Brookfield were standing in front the Honda and waiting for a tow truck to remove it from a group of trees where it was stuck about 45 feet from the roadway, state police said.

Lamparelli, Moran, and Patrick were standing well away from the road when westbound motorist David Tecci, 59, of Southbury, who was driving a 1996 Jeep Cherokee, came around a right curve in the road on westbound I-84, lost control on the slippery surface and then slid to the left onto the highway median, striking both Moran and Patrick, and also striking the disabled Honda, state police said.

The Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company was then dispatched to the scene.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead said Moran was lying on the ground with a serious leg injury, but was conscious and alert, when firefighters arrived. Firefighters treated her until ambulance volunteers arrived, he said.

Patrick received a leg injury, but refused medical attention, state police said. It is unclear if Patrick was a passenger in the Honda in the first accident.

Ambulance staffers transported Moran to Danbury Hospital where she was admitted as a patient. Moran was in fair condition on Tuesday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said. State police listed an alternate address for Moran in Washington, Conn.

State police issued Tecci an infraction for traveling too fast for conditions.