Rios was charged with murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, first-degree assault and motor vehicle charges that include reckless driving and evading responsibility with a death. He was driving an unregistered car with the wrong license plate on it, and his license had been suspended, court officials said.
Rachel Zaniewski, a spokesperson for Mayor Erin Stewart, identified the man who died as Bruce Cote, 59, of New Britain. She said officers provided medical aid until medics arrived. Cote was then taken to The Hospital of Central Connecticut where he was pronounced dead. A second man, Vincent Maffucci, 36, was injured, according to a police report. As of Wednesday, Maffucci remained in the hospital and was listed in stable condition, Zaniewski said.
Rios was at a friend’s house Tuesday drinking near the intersection of Park and Stanley streets when he went outside around 9:45 p.m. to get fresh air, he told police. Outside he spotted Cote, who he had problems with in the past, and Maffucci, who he had never met, Rios told police after turning himself in around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Rios refused to shake Maffucci’s hand, which started the argument, he said. The fight escalated, with bystanders running into a shop to call 911, clerks in the store said. Minutes later, people ran back into the store, saying that two men had been struck by a car that fled, said a clerk who declined to be identified.
Cote was a regular at the store, the clerk said. Cote and Maffucci were walking north on Stanley Street on the sidewalk in front of the Jalao Restaurant when they were struck by a Ford Escape driven by Rios, according to the police report. The restaurant had been closed for hours, said the owner Domingo Santos.
None of his workers saw what happened since no one was in the building, Santos said. He did, however, provide police with video showing the argument between the three men and the Ford Escape appearing to intentionally strike the men before fleeing, according to the report.
The identity of the driver of the Ford Escape was unknown until Rios turned up at the police station hours later, the report said. When an officer asked him if he had a pending warrant, Rios volunteered that he had run over two people with his car and fled the scene, according to the report.
Under questioning, Rios told detectives about the fight and running over the two men, the report said. “I got into my Ford Escape, and they were walking, and I drove over them,” he said, according to the report. “I then drove home. I feel bad for what I did. No one deserved to die.”
In court, the judge called what happened “a callous act committed by the defendant resulting in the serious injury of one person and the death of another.”
The bail commissioner said Rios has 17 prior convictions between 1993 and 2015, including multiple counts of larceny, assault, violation of probation and failure to appear in court.
Keegan ordered Rios to be placed in detox. The case was transferred to the felony court, where more serious crimes are adjudicated. Rios is due back in court on July 27.