Gary Tyson, 18, of West Haven, Conn., was killed on the night of Sept. 23 while walking across I-95. A 2002 Ford pickup truck hit him just north of Exit 41 in the northbound lane at around 7 p.m.
Tyson was suspected of committing an assault on 75 Claudia Drive in West Haven around 5:45 p.m. State police received a phone call from the West Haven police at 6:15 p.m. concerning Tyson’s assault. They were informed that he was believed to be walking near I-95.
Domenic Vinci pursued Tyson on I-95 shortly then after. However, Vinci broke off pursuit when Tyson started to cross I-95.
Later, at 6:49 p.m., Matthew Ray, 35, of Hampstead, N.C., made a telephone call to 911 on his cell phone to report that he had hit a young male on I-95. Police closed off the highway 90 minutes after the accident occurred.
Some concerns surface as to who is to blame for Tyson’s death.
On Tuesday, Police said, “We were no longer chasing Gary “Chris” Tyson on Interstate 95 when he was struck and killed by a truck as he ran across the highway Monday night.”
However, Tyson’s mother, older sister and girlfriend, all blame police for his death. The family said the police should have waited to arrest him when his life was not in danger.
This was, however, not Tyson’s first offense. On Sept. 10, police charged Tyson with possession of a controlled substance, engaging police in pursuit, interfering with an officer, failure to have a valid driver’s license, criminal attempt to escape from custody and failure to appear in court on past charges.
Prior to this, Tyson was arrested for breach of peace, threatening, second-degree burglary, illegal possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to sell, which resulted in Tyson’s expulsion from West Haven High School and fifth degree larceny.