Wallingford

One Dead After Crash Involving Tractor-Trailer in Wallingford

wallingford police department
NBC Connecticut

A person has died after a car crash involving a tractor-trailer that happened early Tuesday morning, police said.

The crash occurred on South Colony Road, also known as Route 5, at its intersection with South Elm Street at approximately 4:40 a.m.

Responding officers said the car involved in the crash was severely damaged and the driver was trapped inside. When officers tried to get the driver out, the vehicle caught fire, authorities said.

The fire was quickly extinguished and officers ultimately extricated the man stuck inside. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police identified the man as 26-year-old Jesse Brown-Guillen of Wallingford.

The tractor-trailer driver was hauling a 53-foot flatbed trailer loaded with structural steel at the time of the accident, officials said. The company the driver works for is a large structural steel provider.

The company and driver of the tractor-trailer have been fully cooperative with the investigation, according to police.

Police said their investigation revealed that Brown-Guillen failed to stop at the red light and crossed over two northbound lanes, going into a southbound lane and crashing into the tractor-trailer.

The impact of the crash pushed the tractor-trailer into a metal beam guardrail. Authorities said the force of the collision caused the load to shift and several large pieces of structural steel spilled out onto the road.

Route 5 was closed to traffic for several hours while police investigated. The Connecticut State Police Analysis Reconstruction and Truck Squads assisted.

Anyone who saw the crash is asked to call Officer James Knowlton at 203-294-2818 or Officer Christian Evans at 203-294-2819.

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