Alcohol Possibly Involved in 11-Person Car Crash

Several cans of beer, both opened and unopened, were found strew about inside and around a Suburban carrying nine Darien teens the night of June 22, according to Sgt. Carol Ogrinc of the New Canaan Police Department. 

According to witnesses and all individuals involved in the crash, the Suburban allegedly drove through the stop sign at Michigan Road and Rt. 123 (Smith Ridge Road) at around 9:22 p.m., said Sgt. Ogrinc. 

When officers arrived on the scene, the Suburban was on its hood and the driver and two passengers remained while five passengers fled the scene, said Ogrinc. 

A state trooper K9 unit a New Canaan K9 unit were dispatched to scour the area to find those who fled and determine whether or not they needed medical attention, police said. While the K9 units did not find anyone, a New Canaan officer found one of the passangers not far from scene entering a taxi and another apssenger returned to the scene, police said. 

Three other passenger were identified and their parents were called, said Sgt. Ogrinc. The parents stated that they knew their sons had been in an accident and said that they were uninjured, police said.

Of the passengers in the suburban, all male and from Darien, four were 18 years old, three were 17 years old, one was 16 year old, and one passenger's age was not determined, said Ogrinc. The driver was 17 years of age, police said. 

The Mini Cooper, driven by a 22-year-old male from Pound Ridge, NY with a 27-year-old, female passenger from South Salem, NY, was travelling north on Rt. 123 when the suburban drove into the Mini Cooper from Michigan Road, said Ogrinc. The Mini Cooper has front-end damage and the Suburban was totalled in the crash, said Ogrinc. 

The driver and passenger of the Mini Cooper, the driver of the Suburban, and three passengers from the Suburban were all transported to Norwalk Hospital, said Ogrinc. 

When an individual is transported to the hospital, the individual's blood is generally drawn, said Ogrinc. Police will get a warrant for that blood test and could know as early as Monday whether or not aclcohol was in the passenger's blood that night, said Ogrinc. 

According to the Supplement to Connecticut Driver’s Manual, "The administrative license suspension for a 16- or 17-year-old who drives under the influence of alcohol will be no less than one year if he or she submitted to the test or analysis and had an elevated Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) equal to or over .02. If the 16- or 17-year-old refuses to submit to the test, the suspension will be 18 months."