Woman Charged With Assault, DUI After Crash on Route 30

A 63-year-old Vernon resident has been charged with second-degree assault with a motor vehicle and driving under the influence for her role in a Wednesday crash on Route 30 involving a car and a pedestrian, police said.

Joan Seplowitz, of 118 Risley Rd., failed a series of field sobriety tests at the scene, a police report indicates. She spend several hours in the police lockup before posting a $25,000 bond, police said. She was assigned a court date of Sept. 25, police said.

The crash took place at 4:01 p.m. on Route 30 - known locally as Hartford Turnpike - near the Mount Vernon Apartment complex and a new Santini development. Police spokesman Lt. William Meier said an officer on routine patrol came across a woman flagging him down and then noticed her car on the side of the road and the victim on the road.

The victim has been identified by police as Janet Bielecki, 57, of 130 Grove St. She was taken by emergency helicopter to St. Francis Hospital and medical Center in Hartford, police said.

Bielecki has lived in that area of town for some time, both on Grive Street and on Hartford Turnpike itself, police said.

At 8 a.m. this morning hospital officials would only tell police the she was in the intensive care unit. They eventually told police she was in the ICU but stable.

Hartford Turnpike was closed during the afternoon drive home from work while investigators from Metro Traffic Services investigated the scene. Traffic was diverted onto South Street and Vernon Avenue.

The investigation is still open, Meier said.

Hartford Turnpike resembled a sloppy NASCAR race on Wednesday. There were three crashes in all - and two were practically next to each other within minutes. In addition to the car-versus-pedestrian accident, a wreck took place at 304 Hartford Turnpike that involved injuries at 12:54 p.m. and at 1:07 p.m., there was an accident at 281 Hartford Turnpike with property damage, police reports indicate.