Windsor Locks Officials Release Independent Report on October 30 Fatal Accident

The Town of Windsor Locks has today released the independent report about the actions of town and police officials after an October 30 accident that claimed a 15-year-old’s life.

The 82-page report, by Frank Rudewicz, is critical of the actions of newly-retired Police Chief John Suchocki after the accident. The report says that in Suchocki’s efforts to keep the investigation “clean” he mistakenly ceded his own control to the North Central Municipal Accident Reconstruction Team. That action violated Windsor Locks’ own policies.

“By virtue of his position as Chief of Windsor Locks Police and Administrator/Oversight Chief of the NCMARS team, the ultimate responsibility for management of the investigation rests with Chief Suchocki,” Rudewicz writes in the report. “The Chief’s initial intentions appeared well-intended. He repeatedly stated that he wanted a “clean” investigation with no perceptions of conflicts of interest. He ordered all Windsor Locks’ personnel not to be involved. Specifically, he instructed that no Windsor Locks officer should search for the potential evidence. His order had the effect of relegating Windsor Locks personnel to bystander status and relieving them of any investigative responsibility.”

Police Commission Chairman Neal Cunningham said a special meeting has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in where Rudewicz will make a presentation on the report. Commission members have repeatedly said the report would be publicly released and discussed at a public meeting.

Cunningham declined to discuss the report saying “it’s somewhat like we guessed it would be. We didn’t know what to expect.”

The report is available on the Town of Windsor Locks website.

After the initial accident investigation, Hartford County State’s Attorney Gail P. Hardy asked the state police to take over the case.

Fifteen-year-old was killed when he was hit by a car driven by Michael Koistinen, then an off-duty Windsor Locks police officer, who state police allege was drinking for several hours before the accident.

Michael Koistinen, 25, of Suffield, is charged with first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, misconduct with a motor vehicle, and attempt to tamper with evidence. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Nov. 23 in Hartford Superior Court.

Robert Koistinen is a Windsor Locks police sergeant and has been on administrative leave with pay since the accident, his annual salary is $73,385. He pleaded not guilty in January to charges he interfered with the investigation of  the Oct. 2010 fatal accident in which his son, Michael, was involved.

The Windsor Locks Police Commission fired Michael Koistinen, a probationary officer, on Dec. 8, 2010.

The Koistinens’ next court appearance is scheduled for 10 p.m. Thursday in Hartford.

Rudewicz’s report says that while there was a lack of leadership in the initial investigation of the accident, there was no evidence of a “cover up” of what happened.
 
“We do not find any evidence of an overall conspiracy to protect Michael Koistinen or any information pointing to malicious intent to not obtain testing as to alcohol,” the report states. “There were too many people, entities and agencies involved that had independent access to Michael Koistinen to allow for any conspiracy to protect him. Rather than a meeting of the minds required for a conspiracy to occur, it was the opposite: the lack of and non-existence of communication and lack of coordination of information that is responsible.”

The report concludes that no one took charge of the investigative process that night and that it was a lack of communication between the regional accident reconstruction team and Windsor Locks personnel.

“As we have discussed within our report, this lack of leadership and communication were directly responsible for a delay in finding a critical piece of evidence that would have changed the entire sequence of events and provided the probable cause necessary to require testing of blood or breath,” the report says.