A Stratford man has been charged in the February crash that killed a New Haven firefighter the day after he turned 37 years old.
Police have arrested 38-year-old Yabey Oppenheimer, of Stratford, in connection with the New Britain crash on Feb. 2 that killed Jeffrey K. O'Neil, who was a member of the New Haven Fire Department’s engine company 17.
Police obtained a warrant on Thursday for Oppenheimer and arrested him at home. He has been charged with operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs, manslaughter with a motor vehicle and failure to drive right.
Police said Oppenheimer was driving and hit a utility pole at Black Rock Avenue in New Britain, just east of Warren Street, at 1:16 a.m.
O'Neil, the only passenger in the car, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Frank Ricci, a battalion chief and union president for the New Haven firefighters, said O'Neil worked for the New Haven Fire Department for two years and he was assigned to engine company 17, previously of truck 2 and engine company 11.
O'Neil was a federal law enforcement agent for 10 years and left to fulfill his dream of becoming a firefighter, Ricci said.
