Four people killed in fiery crash involving wrong-way driver on Merritt Parkway

Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant
Updated ·2 min read

Four people were killed in a fiery, head-on crash involving a wrong-way driver in the early morning hours Thursday on the Merritt Parkway in Stratford.

Just before 1:45 a.m. on Thursday, state police received multiple reports of a wrong-way driver on Route 15 South in the area of Exit 52 just before troopers learned the car was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle, one of which went up in flames, according to Connecticut State Police.

The crash involved a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country minivan occupied by three people and a 2016 Honda CR-V with one occupant, state police said. All four occupants involved in the crash were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the minivan has been identified as 65-year-old Steven Rowland and the passengers were identified as 80-year-old Thomas Lucian Vitale and 81-year-old Olga Vitale, all of Easton, according to state police.

State police said the driver of the Honda has not yet been identified based on the “extent of the injuries.” The driver’s identification is pending an autopsy.

According to state police, the Honda is registered to a Massachusetts resident.

A preliminary investigation suggested that the Honda was being driven north in the southbound lanes when it collided with the minivan, which was heading south in the right lane, according to state police. The Honda became fully engulfed in flames following the crash.

Members of the Stratford and Trumbull Fire Departments responded to the scene.

According to state police, a trooper who was responding to the scene was involved in a separate collision involving a passerby who stopped their vehicle in the road to help the victims of the first crash. Initial reports indicated the vehicle was stopped in a travel lane without any lights on, state police said.

The trooper involved is believed to have suffered minor injuries, according to state police.

Both sides of Route 15 were initially shut down. The southbound lanes remained closed for about seven hours after the crash.