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1 Dead, 1 Charged With DUI After Fiery Crash On I-95 In Westport

WESTPORT, Conn. — After the driver of a tanker truck was killed in a fiery crash that closed Interstate 95 in Westport for nearly 11 hours Wednesday evening, State Police charged the driver of another vehicle involved in the accident with driving under the influence.

Ramses Taylor Rival, 35, of Stamford, was charged with DUI in the fatal crash on I-95 in Westport.

Ramses Taylor Rival, 35, of Stamford, was charged with DUI in the fatal crash on I-95 in Westport.

Photo Credit: Connecticut State Police
Emergency responders are on the scene of a crash on I-95 south in Westport on Wednesday evening where one person was killed.

Emergency responders are on the scene of a crash on I-95 south in Westport on Wednesday evening where one person was killed.

Photo Credit: Connecticut Department of Transportation

The accident occurred at about 6:55 p.m. on I-95 South just north of Exit 17 near the Saugatuck River Bridge. The highway remained closed in that area until about 5:45 a.m. Thursday. 

Thomas Patrick Reynolds, 64, of Woodbury, was pronounced dead at the scene by Westport Fire Department personnel, Connecticut State Police said. 

Ramses Taylor Rival, 35, of Stamford, appeared to be intoxicated at the scene, State Police said. He failed the standard field sobriety test was arrested on a DUI charge, State Police said. Rival sustained no injuries in the crash.

Reynolds' Mack truck was in the right lane and Rival's Mercedes was in the center lane when the accident occurred, according to the state police.

“Contact was made between the passenger side of [Rival’s] vehicle and the driver’s side of [Reynold’s] truck,” said the accident report from State Police. “The impact then caused [the truck] to veer to the right, strike the metal beam guardrail off the right shoulder and flip onto its driver side. [It] then hit a light pole, then a tree and finally caught fire.”

Rival’s car also veered to the right and struck the concrete barrier of the Saugatuck River Bridge. Rival was arrested, processed at Troop G in Bridgeport and released on $10,000 bond. His court date is Oct. 20 in Norwalk Superior Court. 

State police said the investigation was continuing and more charges are expected in the accident. 

The truck is owned by H.I. Stone & Son of Southbury, which transports municipal and industrial nonhazardous wastes. 

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