HARTFORD, Conn. — A Hartford police officer is dead and a second officer is reportedly in stable but guarded condition following a Wednesday evening crash caused by a motorist fleeing a traffic stop, officials said.
Officer Robert “Bobby” Garten, 34, was identified as the fallen officer. The eight-year veteran of the Hartford Police Department died of his injuries while Officer Brian Kearney was seriously injured, but listed in stable condition at a local hospital, WWLP News 22 reported.
Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody said members of the South Street Crimes unit were patrolling the area around 10:30 p.m. when they saw a Honda Accord commit a hazardous traffic violation. The officers conducted a record check on the vehicle and discovered its registration had been canceled. They proceeded to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle on Broad Street. Once the stop was made and officers approached the car on foot, the traffic violator sped away, police said.
The chief noted that officers did not pursue the Honda Accord, which then blew through two red lights, smashing into another marked police unit that was traveling east on Asylum Street near Cogswell Street.
Thody said Garten was in the passenger’s seat while Kearney was operating the patrol unit with its emergency lights and siren activated as they responded to an unrelated emergency call. The officers were unaware that a vehicle fled from fellow officers at the traffic stop, Thody said.
The driver of the fleeing Honda Accord was identified as Richard Barrington, 18, police said. He was treated at a nearby hospital for minor injuries and was subsequently arrested.
Police said he faces charges that include failure to obey a traffic control signal, failure to renew registration, misuse of plates and interfering with a police officer. Surprisingly, nothing was mentioned about vehicular homicide charges.
Robert “Bobby” Garten (Hartford Police Department)
The chief state medical examiner’s office said Garten died from blunt injuries to his torso, neck, head and extremities and his death was ruled an accident, despite the fact that it occurred during a reckless, negligent criminal act committed by an offender.
Garten was known as a man who loved his job as he followed in his father’s footsteps. His dad retired as a detective with the department, reported WWLP News 22.
“I think if you ask anybody in the police department about him [Garten], they’ll say he was the guy that was always smiling,” the chief said. “Really loved the work when he got on the job. Was one of those officers that really wanted to excel and do different things. … He was a great man.”
