A 70-year-old man is dead after his car caught fire following a car accident in the Cromwell McDonald's parking lot Saturday morning.
Cromwell police and fire crews responded to the McDonald's at 30 Shunpike Road at 5:40 a.m. to investigate a report of a motor vehicle crash. When officers got to the scene a raging fire had engulfed the car in the back parking lotand smoke was rising from the vehicle, police said.
Fire crews extinguished the fire shortly after, but police discovered the driver, identified as Joseph Gilbert, dead in the driver's seat.
The initial investigation showed that Gilbert accelerated in his car through the parking lot before crashing into "a brick and concrete enclosure blocking dumpsters," police said.
Officers from Cromwell, Berlin, Rocky Hill, Newington and Wethersfield responded as part of the Mid-State Traffic Team to investigate.
The drive-thru at the McDonald's was shut down as fire crews worked to put out the fire and police investigated.
Police continue to investigate what caused the crash and said that the cause of death hasn't been determined yet.
