WestHartfordpolice offering $26,000 reward in unsolved 2022 fatal hit-and-run

Jul. 20—On Thursday, police said they're out of leads in the case and they hope adding $25,000 to the reward will help.

"We've exhausted all means of investigative measures," said West Hartford Police Chief Vernon Riddick. "Knocking on doors, scouring video, going to body shops, talking to witnesses. Unfortunately for us, we've not been able to secure an arrest, nor have we narrowed down a person of interest."

The additional $25,000 was secured from the state, a request Riddick thanked Gov. Ned Lamont for granting. Riddick hopes it will encourage others who might have important information to come forward. Police have interviewed someone who witnessed the crash and they believe the driver slowed down after striking Yurovsky, but didn't stop their vehicle.

"We will not stop," Riddick said about the investigation. "It's an arduous task. It's painstaking. I cannot tell you how many hours and overtime hours were dedicated. You physically knock on doors. You see who has cameras. It was a lot of work and effort. We continue to go forward each and every day. We take pride in closing out our cases. It's frustrating, but it's not a deterrent. If anything, it invigorates us and propels us forward."

Riddick said that Yurovsky, who came to the United States from Russia, was widowed at the time of her death and that the department hasn't identified any known family.

But Riddick, speaking in the department's training room surrounded by photos of Yurovsky, described her as being more than just a person on a poster.

"You can see the presence of Eugenia Yurovsky," Riddick said. "She has some style. She has substance. I love the sunglasses...the stylish scarf and the earrings. We don't have any known family at this time. But her soul will rest in peace because she has the family standing before you and behind you."

Riddick also made a public appeal to family or friends of the person responsible for Yurovsky's death, asking them to come forward if they know anything.

"If you know something, please give us a call," Riddick said. "If you have a conscience, each and every day you could be thinking about this, wondering if you should come forward or not, well the answer is yes, you should come forward."

Riddick also appealed to the individual responsible for Yurovsky's death.

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"As you are driving, maybe you saw her, maybe you didn't, it was an accident, maybe you panicked," Riddick said. "We don't have answers to those questions. But at the end of the day, someone died, and you left them there. Every day you go to work, you're probably wondering if today's the day the police will find you. Alleviate that burden. Take away that pressure. Come speak to us. Give your side of the story and we can continue to go forward."

A week of roadway fatalities

Yurovsky's death on Dec. 20 was the first of five roadway deaths that week in West Hartford. A day after Yurovsky was killed, another pedestrian died when 60-year-old Carlos Galarza of Bridgeport — a contractor associated with DiGiorgi Roofing who had been working at the site — was hit by a car while assisting a neighbor who was backing out of their driveway.

A few days after that, on Christmas morning, a crash involving two vehicles on Simsbury Road resulted in the deaths of three people: 17-year-old Raheim Dantae Barry Nelson, 52-year-old Faye Dawson-Judkins and 55-year-old Novelette Bailey.

Hartford resident Bob O'Neal was also killed last June when he was hit by a car while standing on the sidewalk at the intersection of Main Street and Farmington Avenue. In all, at least 15 pedestrians were hit by vehicles in 2022, including a woman who was hit by a vehicle outside of the Noah Webster Library on South Main Street, suffering serious injuries.

Statewide, those pedestrian deaths were part of dozens of other pedestrian deaths that led to Connecticut having a 41-year high in fatalities for pedestrians.

Vision Zero task force

The six roadway deaths in 2022 spurred local officials to enact Vision Zero, which aims at creating policies and building roadway infrastructure that would work to eliminate all roadway fatalities and serious injuries within 10 years.

To form a Vision Zero plan, Mayor Shari Cantor created a task force, splitting the membership between residents and town staff members.

The task force has been meeting monthly since February. In May, the town officially brought on its consultants to help create the town's Vision Zero plan.

"It's really important," Cantor said after Thursday's press conference. "We're a walkable community, we're a vibrant community. We want everyone to be safe, feel safe on the roads."

So far, the task force hasn't yet enacted any roadway infrastructure changes. Some in town, like the nonprofit advocacy group Bike West Hartford, have been critical of the town delaying certain decisions like the planned installation of bike lanes on Boulevard. Town officials have said in the past that they expect to institute some easier roadway changes or trials this summer.

"The state is working with us to help us make roads safer for all users," Cantor said. "A lot of it will be speed mitigation to slow down people so you can see something before something tragic happens. Some of it's going to be engineering, some enforcement, there's also partly education and mindset. You're going to hear a lot more about this in the coming months."

The Vision Zero group meets next on July 24, where it is expected to hear both a crash analysis report and recommendations for improvements to parts of town with the highest number of traffic deaths and injuries. The Vision Zero task force intends to have an action plan completed by the end of the year, with adoption by the Town Council expected to happen in January, a year after the task force was created.

Crashes down, traffic stops up in 2023

West Hartford police have reported that motor vehicle crashes are down slightly in 2023. At the July Public Safety Committee meeting, police reported that through June of 2022, there were 164 crashes. Through June of 2023, there have been 155 crashes.

Police are also continuing to make more traffic stops than last year. At the same July meeting, police reported that through June of 2022 officers had made 1,675 traffic stops. Through June of 2023, officers have made 4,006 traffic stops.

In March, Riddick told CT Insider that the increased traffic stops were in part due to the six roadway deaths the town experienced in 2022.

"We've definitely stepped up our efforts," Riddick said at the time. "We have a traffic division that does motor vehicles. But in addition to that, we wanted to remind our officers who are not in the traffic division within their different areas to increase that and take some action. It is the entire police department's responsibility to do that."

Crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians remain a problem though, with at least 14 through May 19, according to data from the Connecticut Crash Data Repository run by the University of Connecticut. That data is often delayed, as it relies on police reports submitted to the state Department of Transportation.

Anyone with information regarding the fatal crash can contact the West Hartford Police Department's routine line at 860-523-5203 or the department's Traffic Division at 860-570-8850. In addition, anonymous tips can be submitted at 860-570-8969 or whpdtips@westhartfordct.gov.