Owner Of Truck That Caused 2005 Avon Mountain Crash Back In Jail

Jan. 07--David Wilcox, the owner of the truck that caused the deadly Avon Mountain crash in 2005, is back in jail following his arrest on a charge of violating the terms of his probation.

Wilcox, 81, who owned American Crushing and Recycling and was sentenced to six years in prison for allowing poorly maintained trucks to go on the road each day, was held in lieu of $100,000 bail after his arraignment Friday in Superior Court in Hartford.

He was arrested by probation officers. According to the warrant for his arrest, Wilcox has tested positive for the use of cocaine since shortly after his release from prison in August 2014 through November 2016.

At the time of his most recent arrest, Wilcox was living in Newington. He previously lived in Windsor and his trucking company was based in Bloomfield.

His lawyer, William Gerace of Hartford, says Wilcox denies using cocaine.

In June 2009, Wilcox pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree manslaughter, five counts of first-degree assault and no contest to a single count of insurance fraud in the wake of the crash. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, suspended after he served six years, and three years of probation.

One of Wilcox's trucks went out of control the morning of July 29, 2005, as it descended Avon Mountain and crashed into cars and a commuter bus stopped at the intersection of routes 44 and 10 in Avon.

The truck's clutch and transmission disintegrated as it careened down the mountain, Assistant State's Attorney Dennis O'Connor said at Wilcox's sentencing on June 24, 2009.

Killed in the crash were Paul A. "Chip" Stotler, 42, a New Hartford father of five girls; Barbara Bongiovanni, 54, of Torrington; Maureen Edlund, 60, of Canton; and Abdulraheem Naafi, 41, of Hartford, who was driving the truck. Frank Juan, a bus driver grievously injured when Stotler's car was hurled into the front of Juan's bus, died in March 2008. Twenty-three people were injured, five seriously.

Hartford Superior Court Judge David P. Gold said at Wilcox's sentencing hearing that Wilcox did not intend for his truck to crash and devastate so many lives, but ran his trucking company in a way that made what happened all the more likely, the judge said.

"You made a series of intentional and volitional choices that joined together to form this perfect storm that led to the Route 44 disaster," Gold told Wilcox. And Wilcox was keenly aware of the truck's "unsound and unsafe" condition and the risk of harm to the public by its continued use, the judge said.

The repair work Wilcox did was just enough to keep the trucks operational, not what was needed to make them safe and truly roadworthy, the judge continued. And, on the day of the crash, Wilcox placed the truck in the hands of an inexperienced driver.

"Closing your eyes to the danger was not significantly different than getting in, turning the key, closing your eyes and driving it," Gold told Wilcox. "You knew that truck had problems with the brakes, the tires, and the transmission."

Mark Robinson of Canton, who suffered nine broken bones and a punctured lung that day, told the judge in a letter that by putting unsafe trucks on the road, Wilcox "played Russian roulette with all of us for many years."

The judge, citing Robinson's letter, agreed. But rather than place one bullet in a revolver's cylinder and leaving five chambers empty, Wilcox placed five bullets in the chamber, Gold said.

"You played Russian roulette that day with everybody who came near that truck," Gold said. "The only one not playing was you."

According to the violation of probation warrant, Wilcox was released from prison Aug. 22, 2014. On Nov. 20, 2014, Wilcox had to submit to a urine test as part of probation and his urine tested positive for cocaine. His urine tested positive for cocaine on several more occasions and Wilcox's probation officer placed him in several drug programs to halt Wilcox's use of drugs, according to the warrant.

Despite those efforts, according to the warrant, the positive urine tests continued until November. The warrant for Wilcox's arrest was submitted last month and signed by a judge Dec. 22.

Judge Julia D. Dewey continued Wilcox's case until Jan. 13.

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