Multiple Charges Lodged

In Crash That Injured Six

By Andrew Gorosko

Three months after a one-vehicle accident in which six people were injured, police have arrested the driver, charging her with several serious motor vehicle counts.

After learning that police held a warrant, Jennifer Aldrich, 31, of Naugatuck turned herself over to police on February 23, and was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, reckless driving, first degree reckless endangerment, and two counts of second degree assault with a motor vehicle. The five injured passengers in the van that Aldrich was driving were disabled people, police said.

The one-vehicle accident occurred about 6:24 pm December 3 on High Bridge Road. Three of the six people injured in the crash were admitted as patients at Danbury Hospital.

Aldrich was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Astrovan with five disabled passengers onboard westward on High Bridge Road, when an unknown eastbound vehicle did not dim its high-beam headlamps, causing her to lose sight of the roadway while negotiating a curve, Aldrich told police after the accident.

The Chevrolet veered to the right, went through some guardrailing and struck a tree, according to police.

Aldrich and the five passengers in the vehicle were then transported to Danbury Hospital for treatment of multiple injuries, police have said. The van passengers were Joan Dicey, 58; Nick Teller, 66; Delayne Hickler, 60; Corrine Lee, 41; and Orfelia Miranda, 46. All five passengers are listed as residents of the same Fan Hill Road address in Monroe.

Dicey, Hickler, and Miranda were all admitted to the hospital after the accident. Aldrich, Teller, and Lee all were treated and released.

The van that was involved in the crash is owned by The Kennedy Center, a Trumbull-based private rehabilitation organization for the disabled.

After processing Aldrich’s arrest on February 23, police released her on $5,000 bail for arraignment on the charges March 10 in Danbury Superior Court.