The man police said killed two people when his car went airborne and crashed into a steel gas station canopy in New Haven in June was high on PCP and driving almost 100 miles per hour, police said .
Police have secured an arrest warrant for Tyrese Worthy, 27, charging him with manslaughter in connection with the June 20 crash on Whalley Avenue and Amity Road that which took the lives of Billy Ray Yancey Jr., 32, and Derand Lane, 35.
Worthy told police he was high on PCP and had been at a fundraiser in Hamden for Yancey’s deceased girlfriend when the crash happened, police said.
Worthy driving his girlfriend’s car 98 miles per hour in a 25-miles-per-hour zone just before hitting an embankment, sending the vehicle went 17-feet in the air for 80 feet before hitting a steel canopy at the gas station, police said.
Investigators reviewed the car’s Event Data Recorder and spoke with witnesses before making the arrest and a CT Transit bus driver reported seeing a Hyundai going about 80 miles per hour and passing a bus on Whalley Avenue near Dwight Street.
Police obtained video, which confirmed the bus driver’s account and showed the car almost hitting a pedestrian crossing Whalley Avenue, police said.
Ten minutes later, the bus driver arrived at the crash site and saw that the car was the same one that had earlier passed the bus, police said.
Surveillance footage also showed Worthy walking in front of a Valvoline shop, wearing only one shoe. The other one was in the car, police said.
While Worthy was in the ambulance after the crash, he asked police a series of questions, including whose car he messed up, and seemed not to know he’d been in a crash,
"Did I get into a car accident," he asked, according to police, and went on to question: "Am I going to jail" and "Are the Police here?"
Ansonia Police apprehended Worth on Tuesday and turned him over to the New Haven Police Department.
Worthy also told investigators that he had gone to Chazmos bar in Hamden to a fundraiser for Billy Ray Yancy’s deceased girlfriend before the crash, police said.
Worthy has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second degree and misconduct with a motor vehicle.
He was also charged with reckless driving, operating under the influence and operating under suspension and is being held on a $250,000 bond.
Police said Worthy is a convicted felon with a lengthy criminal record that includes 14 previous convictions, including four for operating under suspension, two for interfering with police, one for reckless driving as well as numerous convictions for possession and sale of illegal drugs.
His driving license privileges were suspended on the day of the crash, police said.
