A 43-year-old driver died after state police say an object may have been dropped from the Route 114 overpass onto Route 15 in Woodbridge early Saturday morning, striking his vehicle as he drove south. Todd Atkins was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and investigators are now trying to track down a person or people of interest connected to the incident.
Connecticut State Police said a preliminary investigation found that Atkins' vehicle may have been struck by an object that appears to have been dropped from the Route 114 overpass over the southbound lanes of Route 15, according to the New Haven Register. Atkins was driving along Route 15 around 5:30 a.m. when the object came through his windshield, as reported by WTNH. According to FOX61, state police say the object may have fallen from the Route 114, or Racebrook Road, overpass.
Atkins' family has offered a similar account, saying it appears a projectile was thrown from Racebrook Road, or Route 114, and “went through Todd's windshield,” per the family statement cited by the Register. He was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital, where police say he was pronounced dead, the station's report notes. His family has said he did nothing wrong except be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What the Medical Examiner Determined
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of Atkins' death was blunt force trauma to the torso but did not determine the manner of death, per the same account from the Register. That finding leaves open how the object came to strike his vehicle, a question investigators are still working through.
WTNH reported that state police said they've identified a possible suspect vehicle, and security-camera footage was used to identify a possible suspect vehicle. Either way, police say they are working to identify and make contact with the person, or persons, of interest.
Police Appeal for Witnesses and Dash-Cam Video
Investigators are asking anyone who was along or near that stretch of Route 15 or Route 114 on Saturday morning to come forward. Police said anyone who was in the area, or who has relevant dash-camera footage, can contact Detective Adrian Holmes at [email protected] or by phone at 203-393-4200.
Objects falling or thrown from highway overpasses have led to fatal crashes elsewhere in the country. In Nashville in 2018, 54-year-old Joe C. Shelton Jr. was killed when a chunk of concrete came through his windshield while he drove on Interstate 24 near downtown just before 5 a.m., according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Tennessee transportation officials later determined that concrete was not part of the nearby bridge and more closely resembled a roadway curb, while Nashville police said they believed it had been thrown from the bridge and were reviewing available surveillance footage.
No arrests or charges have been reported in the Woodbridge case, and the investigation remains active. Detectives have not said what the object was or who may have dropped it, and police continue to rely on the public for information as they work to identify the person or people responsible.
