Middletown man charged in fatal 2025 crash on Essex Road in Westbrook

WESTBROOK — A Middletown man has been charged in connection with a fatal crash on Essex Road in Westbrook last year, police say. Ryan Pulcini, 33, is charged with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and failure to drive in the proper lane, Connecticut State Police said in a news release. The June 18, 2025, crash on Route 153 caused the death of 63-year-old Chester resident Robert Lewis Jones, police said at the time. The collision happened when Pulcini's Jeep Wagoneer struck Jones' Nissan Altima head-on. Jones was transported to Middlesex Health Shoreline Medical Center in Westbrook and later was pronounced dead. According to the warrant for Pulcini's arrest, Essex Road, which is part of Route 153, is a two-lane roadway with one northbound lane and one southbound lane — with a double yellow line bisecting the two and a posted speed limit of 35 mph. Troopers were called to the crash at 6:27 a.m. and found the Nissan and Jeep with heavy front end damage, the warrant said. Jones had to be extricated from the vehicle, it said, and was seriously injured but conscious. Jones died at the hospital and the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found his cause of death was blunt impact trauma to the torso and extremities, while the manner of death was an accident. The warrant said Pulcini told a responding trooper that he did not remember what happened, but "all of a sudden, I hit the other guy." It said he was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, including a broken leg. An investigation found Pulcini was driving south between 46 and 50 mph when he encroached into the northbound lane and struck Jones head-on, the warrant said. The cause of the crash was Pulcini's failure to maintain the proper lane, it said. There was no evidence that Pulcini lost control of the vehicle and a toxicology report did not find drugs or alcohol in his system, the warrant said. Based on what the investigation found, it said, authorities felt they had enough evidence to charge him. Pulcini is free on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at state Superior Court in Middletown June 18, police said.