A correction officer with the state Department of Correction is accused of hitting her boyfriend with a car while under the influence of drugs and alcohol in February, then crashing into a tree.
State police have charged 37-year-old Gabrielle Del Valle-Colon, of Sprague, with illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, first offense of possession of a controlled substance, assault in the first degree and second-degree assault with a motor vehicle.
She turned herself in on Wednesday and was arraigned Thursday. According to the arrest warrant, the incident happened on Route 164 in Preston on Feb. 18.
State troopers who responded found Del Valle-Colon outside the vehicle with her head on a man’s chest as he was lying on the ground and bleeding from the head, the warrant says. He was asked for help and said he could not see.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
The 33-year-old man was treated at the scene and brought to a hospital, then flown to Hartford Hospital to be treated for life-threatening injuries.
Police said it appears that Del Valle-Colon was going south on Route 164, went over the double yellow lines, over a curb and into a grassy area of the shoulder of the road, where she hit the man. They noted that there were no tire marks indicating application of the brakes.
Del Valle-Colon told police that the brakes “slipped,” according to the arrest warrant.
Local
The warrant says Gabrielle Del Valle-Colon made contradictory statements that did not match the evidence at the scene and there was an odor of alcohol coming from her breath and her speech was slow and slurred.
A friend of the victim told police that she had been at a bar in Westerly with the victim and Del Valle-Colon, who appeared to be upset when she saw the victim speaking with her privately outside the bar, then wanted to leave, according to the arrest warrant.
Then, around an hour later, around 12:08 a.m., the victim called her from a cellphone and asked her to pick him up. He told her that he and Del Valle-Colon had gotten into an argument and she was “trying to hit him with her car,” according to the arrest warrant. Then the witness heard a car engine revving and the victim scream.
Del Valle-Colon told authorities that she "accelerated, like, a lot," while driving toward the man and ended up "losing control of the car." She alleged that the brakes kept slipping and the car wouldn't stop, according to the warrant.
She later revealed that there have been instances where she gets angry and drives really fast. Del Valle-Colon told police, "I just drive really fast, but I had no intention. It's just stupid driving," the warrant states.
Medical records show that doctors previously found cannabis and cocaine in Del Vallie-Colon's system, the warrant says, and during a search and seizure after the February incident, police found a cocaine-like substance and marijuana-like substance in her possession.
According to the warrant, Del Valle-Colon told police that she "obviously couldn't drive correctly under those conditions," after consuming alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. The man she hit told authorities that she was acting "hysterical" by kicking the ground, hitting the dashboard and taking off her seatbelt, "acting like she was going to throw herself out of the car."
The Department of Correction said Del Valle-Colon is a correction officer who was hired in March 2015 and was most recently assigned to the New Haven Correctional Center.
She was placed on administrative leave with pay on Wednesday pending the outcome of a Department of Correction Security Division investigation.
Bond was set at $150,000 and she was released on a promise to appear, according to online court records. She is due in court on Oct. 16.
