Police investigating shooting, deadly overnight crash in Southington as a homicide
Police are investigating a shooting and subsequent overnight crash in Southington as a homicide, Southington Police Chief Keith Egan said at a press conference Thursday.
Police found 28-year-old Jose Principe of Waterbury unresponsive in the passenger seat of a car that had crashed into a utility pole in front of Noodles & Company at 842 Queen St. in Southington. Egan said Principe was partially ejected in the crash, but most of his body was still in the vehicle.
Principe was transported to an area hospital for treatment where he was pronounced dead, according to police. Hospital staff found that he had sustained a gunshot wound to his back.
His body was transferred to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner where his death was ruled a homicide as a result of a gunshot wound to the torso, Egan said Thursday.
Egan said police are looking for evidence in an approximate quarter-mile stretch of Queen Street from the scene to the Cumberland Farms. He said the department has already executed some search warrants and is in the process of obtaining more.
Queen Street between Aircraft Road and Interstate Parkway was closed as investigators worked the scene. Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact the Southington Police at 860-621-0101.
“If you have anything, please give us a call,” Egan said. “Like I said earlier, we will glean through whatever you send to us to determine what’s important or not, but obviously at this point, we’ll accept anything and we appreciate any tips that anybody can give us.”
Police also arrested Victor Perez, 43, of Meriden who was in the area of the accident when officers arrived and was believed to have a possible connection to the incident, according to police. He was evasive with officers, gave them a fake name, attempted to leave the scene and ultimately resisted arrest, according to police.
“At this point, we have no reason to suspect that [Principe and Perez] have any relationship or that they knew each other prior to this incident,” Egan said.
Perez, a convicted felon, was charged with criminal possession of a pistol and interfering with officers and is being held in lieu of a $750,000 bond, according to police. He was scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on Thursday.
