Crime & Safety

Vernon Man Drives Car Into South Windsor House, Injuries Reported

South Windsor Police have arrested the 35-year-old driver, from Vernon, and charged him with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Two other Vernon residents are also in custody for an unrelated incident.

[Updated 10:00 a.m.] The driver of the 2003 Red Toyota Avalon that crashed into a family home on Niederwerefer Road has been arrested and charged with driving under the of drugs or alcohol and reckless driving, according to South Windsor Chief of Police Matthew Reed.

Jeffrey A. Daigneault, 35, of 15 Highland Ave., Vernon, was charged while at Rockville General Hospital where he was being treated for injuries sustained in the accident and released on a $5,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in Manchester Superior Court on Nov. 5.

When emergency personnel arrived at the house early Sunday, no one was in the vehicle, but the three occupants of the house were found dazed and trapped under debris inside and outside of the house, according to police. The three home occupants were taken to Hartford Hospital for evaluation, none appeared to have sustained life-threatening injuries, according to police.

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Police later found the two passengers in the vehicle walking along Dart Hill Road. After denying being involved with the accident, the two, Gregory J. Simeon, 18, of 155 West Main St., Rockville, and an unidentified 17-year-old juvenile also from Rockville, were turned over to Vernon Police for their alleged involvement in a larceny earlier Sunday morning in Vernon.

Connecticut State Police found Daigneault walking along a road in Ellington.

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According to police, Daigneault was traveling west on Dart Hill Road at a high rate of speed when his car failed to stop at a posted stop sign at the intersection of Dart Hill Road and Niederwerfer Road. The Toyota continued across the intersection, through a yard and into the side of the white, two-story, wooden structure at 7 Niederwerefer Road. The residents of the 2nd floor apartment were not at home at the time of the accident.

The South Windsor building inspector has deemed the home uninhabitable pending further structural examination, according to police.

[Updated 7:42 a.m.] A South Windsor family received a jolt early Sunday morning when a motor vehicle slammed into a home on Niederwerfer Road.

Three people were home at 7 Niederwerefer Road the time of the incident, which took place around 2:30 a.m., according to Chief of Police Matthew Reed.

All three home occupants - two adults and one child of unknown ages - were taken to Hartford Hospital, Reed said, with one of the home's residents - an adult - sustaining more significant injuries than the other two.

The residents of the home's first floor are Liz and Greg Torres and their three children, according to neighbor Ernie Rempel of 15 Niederwerefer Road. Two of the children were not home at the time of the incident, Rempel said.

Another family that rents the second floor of the house was not home, according to Reed.

The motor vehicle had three occupants, with the driver sustaining minor injuries; he was taken to Hartford Hospital. The other two motor vehicle occupants were taken into custody by South Windsor police and turned over to Vernon police, Reed said.

The names of those arrested were not yet known.

Reed said that the motor vehicle, a Nissan Altima, was traveling westbound on Dart Hill Road, went through the intersection of Dart Hill and Nieferwerefer Road, went across the home's yard and "vaulted" into the house.

The car hit the ground floor of the house, entered the master bedroom, continued through and crossed into a second bedroom, Reed said.

South Windsor fire, ambulance and police all responded to the scene.

A female was found lying outside the home, with the other two people found inside, Reed said. The female sustained more significant injuries than the other two, Reed said, though the extent of the injuries were not yet known.

Two of the Torres family's children were staying at their grandparents' house at the time of the accident, according to Rempel.

[Updated] South Windsor police and volunteer firefighters responded to an early morning call in which a motor vehicle hit a house on Niederwerfer Road.

Injuries were reported to the occupants of the home at 7 Niederwerefer Road. No reports yet as to the extent of the injuries or how many people were hurt.

Check back with South Windsor Patch for further details to this developing story.


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