The owner of a dump truck that slammed into a group of cars on Connecticut’s Avon Mountain last year, killing four people and injuring 19 others, was arrested on manslaughter charges and other counts, the Associated Press reported Monday, July 24. David Wilcox, 71, who ran American Crushing & Recycling, was arrested at his Windsor home Sunday night, according to the AP.
In addition to four counts of manslaughter, Wilcox was charged with assault, tampering with evidence, fabricating evidence, interfering with police, and 23 motor vehicle violations; those include having defective brake parts on the truck, which went out of control coming down Avon Mountain on July 29, 2005. Wilcox’s 25-year-old son, Shaun, also was arrested Sunday and charged with evidence tampering, the AP reported; the elder Wilcox was being held on $2 million bond, and bond for his son was set at $50,000.
The driver of the truck, Abdulraheem Naafi, was facing charges of drug possession, trespassing and interfering/resisting arrest. Naafi, who died in the fiery crash, had been fired from another company three days before the crash for improper operation of a vehicle. The others killed — Maureen Edlund, 60; Barbara Bongionvanni, 54; and Paul Stotler, 42, were in cars hit by the truck.
