Driver Who Hit Hartford, CT, Apparatus Was Impaired

Mar. 19—HARTFORD — A Hartford woman who crashed into a firetruck in January, injuring herself and several firefighters, had a blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit as well as a history of drunken driving, according to the warrant for her arrest.

Selina Gomez, 24, faces charges of driving under the influence, operating a motor vehicle under suspension, interfering with an officer/resisting, failure to renew registration, illegal operation of a motor vehicle without minimum insurance, improper use of a marker plate and traveling unreasonably fast.

The crash happened at about 9:50 p.m. Jan. 2 while a firefighter was backing the truck into a Main Street firehouse, police said. The four firefighters in the truck were taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, as was Gomez, police said.

Police found Gomez at the crash scene behind the wheel of a 2009 Nissan Maxima. Officer Chelsea Negron wrote in the arrest warrant affidavit that Gomez's eyes were glossy and a heavy odor of alcohol surrounded her, the warrant says, and there was an open bottle of tequila on the floor of her seat.

Gomez had suffered leg injuries, but an officer conducted a sobriety test that did not involve standing or walking and Gomez failed the test, the warrant says. Blood was drawn from her at the hospital and results showed her blood alcohol content to be 0.265, more than three times the legal threshold of .08, the warrant says.

Investigators found that the firetruck's emergency lights had been activated when Gomez, traveling south, tried to swerve around the truck, police said. Surveillance video shows the truck "violently rock" upon impact from the car, Negron wrote. Police found Gomez was traveling at about 45 mph in a 30 mph zone, the warrant says.

Also, a records search for Gomez found that her license had been suspended as of July 9, 2023, along with convictions for driving under the influence and operation of a motor vehicle without an ignition device, the warrant says. Also, the plate on the Maxima belonged to another vehicle and the Maxima was unregistered with no insurance information, police said.

"Gomez's conviction history, along with this incident, indicate a pattern of behavior in which she willfully operates a vehicle while impaired," the warrant says.

Gomez, who turned herself in on Friday, was released on a $75,000 bond and is to appear at Superior Court in Hartford April 11.

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