A Connecticut man was arrested on multiple motor vehicle charges in connection with a crash on Interstate 95 in 2023 that seriously injured a trooper on the Gold Star Bridge in Groton.
Billy Ray Goff, 26, of New London, turned himself in on an active arrest warrant at Troop E in Montville on Monday morning, according to Connecticut State Police.
He is facing charges of endangering a highway worker resulting in physical injury, reckless driving, failure to drive at a reasonable distance apart, failure to slow down or move over when approaching a emergency vehicle, distracted driving and second-degree assault in connection with a seriously motor vehicle crash on I-95 North on Sept. 7, 2023, state police said.
Sgt. Christopher Vaillancourt from Troop E was working an overtime construction assignment on I-95 near the Exit 86 off-ramp around 3:07 p.m. when his cruiser was struck from behind by a Toyota Camry driven by Goff, according to state police. The collision involved a total of four vehicle including Goff’s Camry, Vaillancourt’s cruiser and two additional vehicles, an SUV and a passenger car, state police said.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the area leading up to the collision had a reported speed limit of 55 mph and an extended permanent right lane closure marked with orange barrels. Vaillancourt was reportedly driving with emergency lights activated at approximately 5 mph behind construction workers as they were picking up signage when Goff struck his cruiser from behind and then hit a Toyota Highlander, Kia Forte and a metal beam guardrail following the initial impact, the warrant affidavit said.
As a trooper arrived at the scene, he said he observed the Camry against the guardrail and Goff lying on the ground in the grass area of the center median, according to the warrant affidavit. Goff allegedly told the trooper he was the driver of the Camry and wasn’t sure what happened but that he had rear-ended another vehicle, the warrant affidavit said.
According to the warrant affidavit, the trooper said Goff sustained an injury to his right arm, lower left abdominal region and complained of a head injury. Several off-duty firefighters stopped at the crash scene and rendered aid to Goff, who was transported by ambulance to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London for medical treatment, the warrant affidavit said.
Vaillancourt was reportedly trapped inside his cruiser and was complaining of severe pain in his left arm, back and neck and tingling in his legs and feet, according to the warrant affidavit.
First responders provided medical attention as fire department personnel used the “jaws of life” to extricated him from the vehicle, the warrant affidavit said. Vaillancourt was transported to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital and was later transported to Yale New Haven Hospital where he underwent surgery, according to the warrant affidavit.
Vaillancourt was not able to provide a witness statement and, to this date, reportedly has no recollection of the collision, the warrant affidavit said.
The Highlander driver, identified as a woman from Pennsylvania, and her juvenile passenger reported no injuries, according to the warrant affidavit. She told state police she was driving in the center lane of I-95 North when, “I saw a silver car strike a state police cruiser full force, hit the brakes and curved right so my son would not get hit in the car,” she said. “I watched the state police cruiser go to the right and the silver car spun out, came backwards toward us hitting my front driver’s side bumper and then went off the road to the left side of the highway.”
The Kia driver, identified as a Connecticut man, had no reported injuries, the warrant affidavit said. He told state police he was going 78 mph and was just about to pass the state police cruiser when he noticed a sedan moving “very, very rapidly” to pass him. “If I had to guess, I believe the vehicle was going at least 90 mph,” the man alleged, according to the warrant affidavit. “Just as I was passing the state police SUV, almost 90 degrees to my right, I saw the front of the sedan strike the state police SUV from behind.”
As soon as the Camry struck the cruiser the Kia driver told state police it very spun clockwise and started moving northbound and toward his lane on the left side of the highway and hit him, the warrant affidavit said.
Detectives were assigned to conduct forensic mapping, measurements and investigative photography at the scene of the crash. An Event Data Recorder download authorized by the Connecticut State Police reportedly determined the pre-crash speed of the cruiser was between 5.57 mph to 6.03 mph and “upon impact the Ford Police Interceptor Utility’s delta-v range was 26.90 mph to 32.86 mph,” according to the warrant affidavit.
Footage from the mobile video recording system reviewed by detectives reportedly showed the cruiser’s travel speed at 5 mph just before impact, the warrant affidavit said. Upon impact, the footage showed that the cruiser traveled up to 33 mph.
The front-facing footage reportedly showed the cruiser following three DOT work trucks. All vehicles were traveling in I-95 North the far right lane at a reduced speed over the Gold Star Bridge that was closed to traffic by large orange construction barrels, according to the warrant affidavit. The footage reportedly showed that the cruisers lights were activated, the warrant affidavit said.
The rear-facing footage allegedly showed the Camry traveling straight at a high rate of speed leading up to the collision, according to the warrant affidavit. “The Toyota Camry does not reduce speed, does not move over and does not conduct an evasive maneuver leading up to the collision event,” the warrant affidavit said.
During an interview with Goff, he allegedly told state police, “I don’t know exactly what I was doing, but I wasn’t going any more over 70 but going from somewhere around 65 to a dead stop,” he said.
He alleged that he was not paying attention and was looking “at all the fancy new gadgets” of the car that he had reportedly bought for his mom and was taken off the lot just two hours before the collision, the warrant affidavit said. He said he remembered looking up at the last second before colliding with the cruiser, according to the warrant affidavit.
State police reported that Vaillancourt fractured of the radius and ulna of his left arm and underwent surgery that resulted in plates and screws being permanently placed in his arm. According to the warrant affidavit, he had not yet been medically cleared to return to work, even in a limited capacity.
According to state police, the investigation supported the probable cause to charge Goff, who was being held on a $50,000 court-set bond and was transported to New London Superior Court for arraignment on Monday.
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