A man was killed when the vehicle he was driving was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Interstate 84 in Farmington on Sunday evening, sending his vehicle to the wrong side of the highway and leading to a six-car crash that closed both sides of the interstate for several hours.
The crash occurred shortly after 6 p.m. in the area of Exit 36 where 29-year-old Eloi Batista Da Silva was heading east in a Honda Civic when the driver of a Toyota Corolla struck the Civic “for an unknown reason,” according to Connecticut State Police.
The collision sent the Civic across the center median and onto the westbound side of I-84, where it collided with a 2021 Toyota Tacoma, state police said. That collision then led to a “chain of events” involving a 2024 Subaru Legacy, a 2021 Jeep Renegade and a 2020 Ford cargo van, according to state police.
The Jeep and the cargo van ended up in a wooded area off the highway. The other vehicles settled in different areas of the highway.
Batista Da Silva suffered injuries “not compatible with life” and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to state police. The Civic he was driving was registered to a cleaning services company in Hartford, state police said.
The driver of the Corolla, a 43-year-old Wethersfield man, evaded the scene of the crash and was later located, according to state police. He did not report any injuries.
The drivers of the other vehicles reported minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals, state police said.
The collision led to both sides of the highway being shut down for several hours while the state police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad responded to investigate. The highway later reopened.
The crash remains under investigation.
Any witnesses or drivers in the area with dashboard camera footage have been asked to contact Trooper Michael Dean at 860-534-1098 or michael.dean@ct.gov.
