A New London man suspected in a hit-and-run that killed a Connecticut College student in December will be in court on Thursday for an arraignment and court documents state that he had been drinking alcohol before the crash.
James Sposito, 25, of Quaker Hill, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, tampering with physical evidence, tampering with a witness and evading responsibility in connection with the crash on Dec. 18 that killed Anique Ashraf, a native of Pakistan who was studying art and history at Connecticut College.
Police said they received a 911 call just after 2 a.m. that morning about a body on the side of the road of Route 32 just after 2 a.m. and the driver had fled the scene.
When police arrived, Ashraf was unresponsive on the northbound side of the road and he was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ashraf was a member of the class of 2017 at Conn College.
A classmate told police that Ashraf,had been at a party to celebrate their film exhibition that night and left, but returned because he forgot his backpack. He left again at 2 a.m. to go to his dorm, according to court documents. Minutes later, police received the 911 calls about a body in the road.
Police identified Sposito as a suspect after local police departments were asked to be on the lookout for a vehicle with damage consistent with the incident.
An officer saw a damaged vehicle on Clark Place in Quaker Hill, which came back to a car rental company that had rented the car to Sposito, police said.
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When police went to talk to him about the incident, he said he hit a deer as he was heading home from a friend's house the night before, police said.
Police then spoke with witnesses who said Sposito had been out for drinks that night.
One witness reported that Sposito called around 11 a.m. and said he'd hit "something" near Connecticut College on his way home and thought it was a deer, so he slowed down to look, but did not see anything and went home, according to the arrest warrant application.
As police continued to investigate, a witness reported seeing Sposito check the Internet on his phone and say, "I think I hit a person," according to the court documents.
Then he told a witness he found a backpack strap on his window, the court documents said.
Ashraf had gone back to his classmate's house to get a backpack and court records note the strap was ripped and detached.
Sposito was released from custody after being charged and was due in court on Thursday.
