NBC CONNECTICUT TO HOLD MAYORAL FORUM TOMORROW NIGHT

Decision 2019 the Race for Hartford Mayor  on Scribd

WHEN DO WE SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

He wasn't "unavailable" then

This week has been an extremely violent week, but actually there have been plenty of violent weeks since Luke Bronin has been Mayor, and plenty of violent weeks during the tenure of Interim Chief Jason Thody.

Lets do a quick flashback for a second to 2015. That is the year Luke Bronin showed up on the scene to challenge Mayor Pedro Segarra. Most people in Hartford had never heard of Luke Bronin and most would never recognize him, but Bronin proved you could buy an awful lot with a million dollars. You could buy both name recognition and the Hartford Mayor's Office.

Now Pedro Segarra was a nice guy, but a terrible Mayor. I think many people, A/K/A Hartford's political insiders figured out quickly Segarra was more of a Social worker than a solid leader and they were able to steamroll him for their own needs and Segarra produced lackluster results.

Bronin's arrival on the political scene coincided with a very violent pre-election summer. Bronin quickly capitalized on that violence and made political hay from the dead bodies piling up due to gunfire and violence.Segarra was slow to make changes, especially in the Hartford Police Department. HPD was without a permanent Chief at the time. Segarra wasted months selecting a Chief and at one point he conducted an expensive national search spending upwards of $75,000 only to appoint Chief Jim Rovella as the right choice for Hartford's Police Chief.( Not only the right choice, but a great choice)

Bronin capitalized on all of that, especially the dead bodies of homicide victims, making it point to have the Television cameras in tow as he went to vigils and visited the survivors homes of the homicide victims. It worked, he promised to make Hartford a safer City and he was elected as Mayor. And it only cost a little over a million dollars.

I remember the day Bronin showed at at a playground on Cornwall street to use  the prop of a deadbody lying on a basketball court, the man shot in the head during a basketball tournament, to capitalize on the corpse 50 yards away to convince us why we needed change and oust Segarra. What has changed except the Mayors ?   Let me answer my own question...nothing

But, as Eddie Perez's corruption trial revealed the "Gospel of Perez", the felonious Mayor's staff had put together a PowerPoint display to build Eddie's little corrupt empire, or so he hoped. One of the slides stated "Voters in Hartford have very short memories". That is never truer than right now.

I was disgusted yesterday by media accounts that when they tried to approach Luke Bronin for comment on Thursdays street shootout and the killing of 71 year old Grandmother Yvonne Smith, Bronin was conveniently "unavailable" Of course he was unavailable he doesn't want to have to answer for his "efforts" or more appropriately his failures and broken promises.

He doesn't want to have to answer for his revolving door of Department Heads at City Hall and the lack of stability in his Administration. The only Department head who has remained I believe is Fire Chief Reggie Freeman. All other Departments have numerous turnover in Department Heads, including HPD. DPW went without a permanent head for months, actually well over a year, because Bronin was able to use the Fire Chief as an acting DPW Director Luckily Freeman was able to do both , and surprisingly both Departments functioned well, no thanks to Bronin. MHIS, the City's IT Department has been without a permanent director for years.  It is only the City's computers and technology, why should we be concerned about that being managed properly by a permanent Department head?

I think Luke Bronin has a higher turnover rate in his Administration than the Trump Administration, seriously.

It is only the City's computers and technology, why should we be concerned about that being managed properly?

And while Bronin was "unavailable" for comment on the violence this week, his Police Chief was lounging in Chicago at a conference. As the Mayor of a violent City that just experienced a tragedy and several shootings in a 24 hour period, I would think if I was in Bronin's position I would see the value in telling my Police Chief, his presence in the City to maintain calm and hopefully instill confidence and leadership was more important than hobnobbing in Chicago with other Police Chiefs.

But that would take leadership on Bronin's part,

And I am not sure anyone  should believe Bronin's promises that if elected he will serve out the full 4 years of his second term. This is the same guy that was willing to take almost a year off from his full time job as Hartford's elected Mayor to zig-zag across the State in his failed bid to be Connecticut's Governor. How much could have been accomplished during that year if actually focused on the job the taxpayers were paying him to perform. Did he ever offer to give back the salary for the time he was being paid to run Hartford and he wasn't? I never heard that offer being mad.

Bronin

Does anyone really believe that if John Larson  or (oh please God please) Richard Blumenthal announced  their retirements next spring that Luke Bronin wouldn't be the first one in line to get those positions., despite his promise to the people of Hartford.

Hell, Luke Bronin can't even tell us  the truth about where he is living now, why should we believe anything he says.

Enough is enough, as a City we deserve so much better and not be accepting  the highest bidder for our voting rights.

VIGIL FOR YVONNE SMITH TOMORROW

YVONNE SMITH

 I normally don't do this, but this vigil is of special importane  due to the nature of this senseless act and the purely innocent victim who died. Please attend if you can to shpw support for Yvonne's family and as a community to let our Mayor and Councilpeople that we are fed up with the nonsense on our streets

Mothers United Against Violence will conduct a Candlelight Vigil on Saturday, October 26th, at 4:00 pm, at Garden & Nelson Streets, Hartford, where the life of Yvonne Smith, 71, was taken by being hit by a car driven by a youth fleeing a gun fight in the streets.

For the family, this is a loss like the loss of the life of any family member.

Yvonne has been recognized by many as "a guardian of the neighborhood" and spent most of her life in Hartford and never wanted to be anywhere else. So for her, the family is asking for help to make the streets safer.

All who want to do that should feel welcomed to be part of the human presence trying to bring calm to the community and be strengthened by taking part in this vigil.

Details of this death is at https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Teen-Charged-With-Manslaughter-After-Crash-in-Hartford-That-Killed-Grandmother--563847591.html

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THE PERFECT STORM

The perfect storm.That is how Hartford Police Officer Dom Agostino described yesterdays events on Westland Street. Officer Agostino called me this morning to describe his actions to me after numerous comments had been made on this Blog critiquing his actions during the incident.

I have never met Agostino, but I was aware of who he was due to an Internal Affairs investigation regarding him from several years ago.  That may have been a bad start when I began hearing he was the officer who first arrived  on Westland Street yesterday to an active shooter scene.

Agostino asked if he could talk to me and address his response. Since I( am still trying to unravel the situation in my own mind, combined with the numerous phone calls I have received with all  of the different theories and scenarios as to how it should have been handled in a perfect situation.

The problem is nothing about yesterdays incident was routine or complying with any Academy role playing scenario.

Agostino seemed to be troubled by all of the events, but then again, who wouldn't be. He said he hadn't been able to get much sleep last night as the slow motion events kept playing over in his mind.

Agostino described it as the "perfect storm" for chaos. He heard the shots fired call, responded to the area and as he turned onto Westland street he saw two SUV's racing directly toward him. He said the front seat occupants of one car were wearing masks and one of the SUV's threw that car into reverse to elude him and backed up Westland Street. The scene was unraveling in split second timing at that point and Agostino was trying to comprehend everything in the greater picture and making sense of a senseless situation.

Agostino , driving forward up Westland St. was pursing the second shooting vehicle as it backed up the street quickly. At about the time he saw the grey car at the curb with two more shooters taking aim at the fleeing SUV. In a split second he saw the subsequent victim, later identified as Yvonne Smith, entering the street into the path of the fleeing car.

He explained the couple of seconds we can see in the video where he is stationary alongside the standing shooters. At that moment the fleeing vehicle hit Yvonne Smith and propelled her body into the air and through the intersection .Agostino recalls quickly looking from the flying body to the shooters along side him, trying to process what to do next. A situation hopefully none of us are ever in and having to witness and make those decisions and hopefully none of our trained police officer's have to either.

I know it is easy to criticize Agostino's actions, I did it myself. I am not sure even a computer or the best trained Police Officer could process the events that quickly and make the perfect decision. I had the  video on a computer screen and it took me several views to make sense of the silver vehicle by the curb and the two occupants going into their shooting stances and figuring all the threats out. Imagine a Police officer coming upon a wildly confusing situation unwinding in real time before your eyes and trying to control that situation perfectly while analyzing everything happening, trying to chase the suspects, not crash your cruiser, not get yourself shot and if you return fire not to injure any innocent bystanders out in the area. As you human brain is processing all of that information , you see a body hurled into the air by the fleeing car.

I am not sure even the fastest computer could analyze all of that information and come up with a perfect scenario in the quick time frame  that Agostino had to make the same conclusions .I am not sure it is necessary, but I would love to sit down in a room with people, or even a group of Police Officers and play the video for them and see how they would process their solutions and the "what if's". Hopefully this will be a learning tool for our Police Officers to prepare them for the next time a similar situation occurs. And sadly I think the next time will not be too far off unless we get a handle of the violence on our streets.

Finally, I think I did look at the video and drew conclusions as to the situation based upon my knowledge of previous incidents with Officer Agostino. This was a perfect storm situation and I am not sure even the most seasoned, well trained officer could have or should have acted differently. And I honestly pray that none of my police officer friends, or any police officer find themselves in similar situations.  And I don't think I have ever done this before or actually felt the need to do it, but to Officer Agostino, I apologize for judging your actions in the comfort of my computer screen hit play rewind and pause reviewing the video in slow motion, unlike what you were confronting in split second real time.

I appreciate your calling me and having the opportunity hear your version and your sincerity seemed to come through for me. I hope your department will help you and other officers dealing with similar situations to process these events properly.

Before we were done, I asked Officer Agostino a question and told him if he didn't want to answer me I understood. I asked him as the scene was unfolding, did he ever  stop to think or delay his response because of liability or what would happen if he fired back or even rammed the car with his cruiser . His response was a quick "No".

A CITY OUT OF CONTROL

It is an election year so you aren't supposed to know this, but Hartford is out of control.

Last night was a very violent night in the Capitol City, shotspotter activations were constant, . Two people were shot in the area of South Green Park, another shooting victim showed up this morning at the hospital for treatment and told Police it happened in the area of South Green Park.

And now it continues on today.

A shootout occurred in the area of Garden and Westland Street. Numerous gunfire was reported. Most op the shootout was caught on the Hartford Police Department's C4 Command Center video.

As the shootout was occurring an HPD black and white cruiser came around the corner. Two vehicles were driving up the street apparently shooting at each other and at a 3rd vehicle at the curb , where that vehicles occupants were returning fire.

The first vehicle being chased continued past the police cruiser. the second vehicle following that one, threw their vehicle in reverse and backed up the street, past the car at the curb that was still firing at them.

What appears to be an innocent bystander trying to cross the street to get away from the gunfire is suddenly struck by the vehicle fleeing in reverse at high speed. She is launched and thrown through the air for approximately 100 feet. She also reportedly had a bullet wound to her head from what sources at the scene have told me. Her condition is unknown at this time, but I am being told unofficially it is not good.. Please keep her in your thoughts

It is also interesting from the video that the HPD Officer appears to continue driving and is not seen exiting from his cruiser or returning fire.

It is definitely, I am sure, an unnerving situation to come around a corner and find yourself in the middle of a firefight, What would the response be? Who knows.

But this is the reality of life in Hartford these days, And the reality is that innocent people are being killed as long as this continues.

We will have to see how transparent  HPD and City Hall are and if they have the courage to actually release the video of the real street life in Hartford. It is very disturbing video, but it is reality

INTERIM CHIEF THODY RESPONDS TO USE OF FORCE INVESTIGATION

After I posted this afternoon about the Investigation underway by the Hartford County State's Attorneys Office, the following statement was released by Interim Chief Jason Thody

Thody Response to Pillai In... on Scribd

HPD DETECTIVE UNDER INVESTIGATION BY STATE'S ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING HANDCUFFED SUSPECT

A veteran Hartford Police Detective is under investigation by the Hartford County States Attorney's Office  for an incident that may result in criminal charges against the Officer after allegedly assaulting a suspect who was under arrest and handcuffed.

UPDATED 3:00PM- The entire incident was properly documented according to a conversation I had by phone with Detective Pillai. The breakdown, from what sources have told me is the failure of the supervisor to properly document the incident and review the body cam footage, that is where the problem began. When the video came to light , HPD command staff felt it was best to go to an outside agency to review the matter and remove any suspicion or conflict of interest

FROM THE HARTFORD POLICE UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE REPORT:

On 5/22/19 at approximately 1309 hours, Detectives from the Vice & Narcotics division were conducting a narcotics investigation and warrant operation. The investigation led detectives to 577 Prospect Avenue, West Hartford.

 As officers attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop to effect an arrest, the suspect for the investigation, intentionally rammed into a police vehicle, eluding and evading the police stop. The suspect vehicle then fled from the rear parking lot, intentionally ramming into a surveillance vehicle being operated by a V&N Detective.

 Upon impact, the airbags deployed trapping the officer within the vehicle. A 10-0 was radio broadcast, with numerous units responding from all divisions, including Officers and medical providers from West Hartford. Due to the disabling damage, the suspect vehicle came to a stop on scene.  

NOTE: a "10-0" IS HPD RADIO CODE FOR OFFICER IN TROUBLE, NEEDS ASSISTANCE  AND REQUIRES A MANDATORY RESPONSE FROM ALL AVAILABLE OPFFICERS

Apparently, the May 22, 2019 incident and the alleged assault of the suspect was not reported until it was uncovered by a high level supervisor reviewing HPD Use of Force Report that the body cam footage had not been reviewed or preserved  in compliance with the required review after the departments Use of Force Policy. According to several HPD sources. During that review it allegedly shows Detective  Abish Pillai striking the suspect in the head after the suspect was handcuffed and under arrest. Pillai can apparently be seen on the body cam footage striking the suspect in the head with the bottom of his department issued portable radio.

Sadly, several HPD Officer's referred to Pillai as a "good , good, guy" one Officer stated Pillai "is one of our best detectives'  and the accusation "is totally out of character" for him and that he is usually totally in control and a calm demeanor.

 It is unfortunate that this incident has the possibility of ending with Criminal charges and HPD  losing one of  their best detectives. Adrenaline is a terrible thing once it gets flowing, but so is assaulting a handcuffed suspect) i also points to several problem areas that aren't unique to HPD.

Where were the other Officer's at the scene? No one else witnessed this alleged assault, even the officer whose body cam captured the footage. (and there may be more than one recording)  Where was the supervisor who signed off on the Use of Force report and why did they not comply with the Use of Force policy to retain and review any body cam footage. Will there be any  one held accountable for these failures.
 

19-16218 Ten-Zero, Motor Vehicle Collision - Offcier Trapped  on Scribd

HPD AND THE SEARCH FOR THE GREAT PUMPKIN

Many of the good things the Hartford Police Department does go unnoticed. This past Friday was one such time.

 On Friday, the Hartford Police Activities league went on a "field trip". Two school buses loaded with youth that partake of the daily PAL program loaded two buses and headed to a South Glastonbury farm in search of the perfect pumpkin.

The farm is owned by the Cavanna Family, the farm was established in South Glastonbury in 1903 and has remained in the Cavanna family since. Two members of the Cavanna family are currently Hartford Police Officers, Sergeant John Cavanna and his younger brother, Officer Andrew Cavanna, one of the newest additions to HPD.

Friday the Cavanna family, Parents Paul and Kathy , along with their sons John and Andy, daughter Kate and several Hartford Police Officers volunteered to host  the PAL program with hayrides to the fields to select pumpkins, take a ride on a diesel train locomotive on the farm and enjoy pizza, cider and all the apples they could eat along with candy treat bags provided by Officer Cullen and his family for all the kids.

Apples, strawberries, Christmas trees and even Maple syrup are the main items produced on Cavanna Farms

Pumpkins aren't normally grown on the farm, but this year Paul and John and Andy planted a field specifically to give to the PAL kids, free of charge their own pumpkins as part of the pre-Halloween event.

It was great to see the excitement on the children's faces, many of them who had never held a pumpkin of their own. It was also great to see them interacting with the Police Officers who volunteered their time. It was interesting to see Lieutenant Lauren Cox explaining to kids what was inside a pumpkin and the seeds that could be toasted..

The locomotive rides were a huge hit as the kids lined up for their turn in the cab of the massive machine. Next up will be the Holiday hayride through downtown for the PAL kids held before Christmas

Pumpkins fresh from the Cavanna fields

Two of Hartfords Finest volunteering their time for the kids

The trainmaster explaining safety to the kids before boarding

"All Aboard" the Grey Granite Railroad

AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN

HPD OFFICER JAMES BARRETT

An officer, a Police Officer actually, a gentleman and a great human being. That is the best way to describe Hartford Police Officer Jim Barrett.

Jim Barrett is a Hartford Police Officer assigned to the area around the Hartford Public Library and City Hall on Main Street. On Monday Barrett was at his assigned area on bike patrol. Barrett heard a radio call for a potentially suicidal male who was threatening to take his life by jumping from a bridge near the riverfront.

With a limited description of the mans clothing, Barrett rode toward the area of Riverfront Plaza. He observed a man matching the description climbing over the rail of the pedestrian bridge over Columbus Boulevard near the Science Center. Barrett reacted quickly and was able to grab the man before he was actually able to jump from the bridge. A short struggle ensued and Officer Barrett, with the assistance of a couple bystanders , was able to restrain the man until medical help arrived.

For anyone that doesn't know Jimmy Barrett, this selfless act was not an anomaly, it is one type of act helping people that he conducts everyday to different degrees.

Barrett is not just a Community Service Officer  for City Hall, he fills a void  by helping people that are down on their luck or just need a little help getting by.

Barrett regularly organizes collections, and distributes footwear , shoes, socks, etc. for the homeless. His City Hall Office some days looks more like the shoe aisle at Walmart than a Police Office. His winter drive also usually has health care professionals available to address foot issues with the people that come in for help.

Officer Barrett is the original "Re-entry Center" at City hall , often helping recently released from incarceration members of the community or others trying to obtain employment with clothing, footwear or even coaching or setting up job interviews. Many times people stop by Officer Barrett's office looking for a snack or something to eat.  Barrett always has snack, energy bars or even canned items like spaghetti-o's that can be eaten on the go

Barrett really understands and takes his oath literally, to serve and protect.

As of the last check, the man threatening to jump was receiving medical attention.

Barrett has also served as a member of the US Army and has been deployed  over seas on several occasions.

If anyone would like to assist Officer Jim Barrett in his efforts, donations are always welcomed and accepted. Officer Barrett's office is located on the ground level of City Hall at the rear doors.

Great job Officer Barrett.

LIES AND DECEPTION, THE JOVEN GONZALEZ HPD INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS

This is definitely a bizarre story. What makes it even more bizarre is how this has been handled from the start by the HPD Administration and Interim Police Chief Jason Thody. Read the attached Internal Affairs reports and you will probably be asking yourself "why was this Officer allowed to remain on duty after the first incident?".

Is it another example of the "good old boy network" that many still believe exists within HPD? Why was Officer Joven Gonzalez able to be involved in what the IAD investigator called an "ON-duty Domestic incident" and still remain on duty and not be suspended and his police powers, department weapon and badge be confiscated. Instead Gonzalez was able to remain on duty and keep his weapon, only to use that same weapon to pistol whip and seriously injure his victim  in a hotel room he had rented for his juvenile sex partner.

There are many good men and women serving the City of Hartford as Police Officer's and the Administration needs to deal with the bad apples promptly instead of coddling them to discredit HPD repeatedly.

Another issue, detailed in the IAD reports, is the question of why The Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy and retired HPD Deputy Chief, now Hartford County States  Attorney Inspector Emory Hightower refused to pursue Criminal Charges against Joven Gonzalez when requested by Bloomfield PD. Instead Hightower declined and punted the  matter to HPD to handle internally. More of the "good Old Boy" protection network.

Efforts should already be underway to terminate Gonzalez and the paperwork should already be in the works to decertify Gonzalez through POSTC (Police Officers Standards and Training Council) for his documented lies in his official capacity and falsifying records.




Joven Gonzalez I-File #1  on Scribd

Iad Report Joven Gonzales #2  on Scribd

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. SOME THOUGHTS ON THIS WEEK'S CRASH

Vintage B-17

This weeks Vintage B-17 crash pointed out what we do right as a regional community, and also the negative sides also.

Within seconds after the crash, the Greater Hartford Regions Fire, Police and EMS services were being coordinated for a massive, hopefully life saving response. These events are rehearsed for and practiced  regularly, in the hopes that the real test will never happen.

Wednesday morning, a little after 10:00AM the tests became reality.

It all happened very quickly. I received a call from my friend Len Besthoff , the Investigative reporter for NBC Connecticut. He asked me if I was listening to my scanner because they were getting word of a plane crash at Bradley.  I told him I thought I had heard the Windsor Locks Dispatcher calling for aid from surrounding towns , both Fire trucks and Ambulances. I didn't really pay attention because it sounded like one of their regular drills of the region's "Red Plan". The red plan is the playbook for the emergency response to major disasters.

Since my mother lives very close to the Bradley, I called her and asked if she could see any smoke or heard anything that sounded like a plane crash. She sounded shaken on the phone and her response was "Oh my God, I hope it wasn't the plane that just flew over"

Apparently, her and my sister Sheryl were both in her front yard when a vintage bomber flew directly over my mothers house in what wasn't the normal flight path for aircraft landing at Bradley. They both paid attention because the engines were loud. My mother noticed the four propeller's and my sister said she wished she had her camera close by because the plane was beautifully restored and was flying so low it would have made for some great photos. They could clearly make out the glass bubbles for the nose gunner and belly gunner.

What drew their attention though was the "popping" sounds coming from the engine.

I called Len back and told him what5 Mom had just told me and he said they were just getting calls that a vintage military aircraft had crashed and they could see a plume of smoke on their Bradley camera..

By that point things were becoming very chaotic. Ironically, right before Len called, I was on the phone with retired HPD Deputy Chief Brian Foley, now working in the Commissioners Office at Public Safety,  he quickly  cut our call short telling me that Governor LaMont's Office was calling, word of the crash was spreading, quickly.

As the day progressed, I was proud to know so many of the professionals involved in unraveling the incident. Initially, The Connecticut State Police had control of the situation and Commissioner Rovella did a great job, as he usually does, putting a sense of order to what can be the chaos of a fast moving situation.  Rovella has always been striving for transparency, and between Rovella, Foley and the CSP command staff details were flowing quickly without the usual misinformation these tragedies tend to generate.

Rovella's demeanor and professionalism had to be reassuring to the families and anyone watching the live press conferences as well as instilling confidence that the investigation , at least on the States part, would be thorough and orderly.

Rovella alluded to the acts of heroism and the related stories that would be coming out. Those stories will only help to let people know there are still good people out there and we can count on our neighbors and each other when it really counts. Just the number of volunteer firefighters and EMS people that mobilized in minutes, many putting their own lives in danger or disrupting their work day to respond is gratifying....

And now to the ugly. While watching the live news conference and the first briefing I was extremely disappointed in someone that is supposed to be the elder "statesman" from Connecticut, Senator Richard Blumenthal. Governor Lamont was respectful and actually seemed very emotional during the briefing, his test  for his first major disaster as Governor. I Give Governor Lamont a grade of "A" or even "A plus".  Senior Senator Blumenthal gets an "F"

For some reason Blumenthal saw the need to even be in the room.  He nearly elbowed Airport Authority Executive Kevin Dillon away from the podium so he could get control of the microphone. It then became a chest thumping "guess how important I am " moment for Blumenthal he had to go on to tell that he had ordered the response from the NTSB and that he was so important and NTSB answered to him as a member of the Transportation Committee. He went on to say that he would be looking at Legislation to hold these  vintage aircrafts to legislative accountability and safety.

Senator Blumenthal, as soon as the first  part of the landing gear on the B-17 touched a lighting stanchion at Bradley, the NTSB protocol's already had staff grabbing their "go bags" and they were t destined for Bradley. Your call was unnecessary, other than to boost your political ego. People just died and were injured, the last thing those families need  was some politician trying to gain political points immediately after a tragedy.

Commissioner Rovella, Airport Authority Director Kevin Dillon and Governor Lamont's staff already had the situation well under control and your presence was more of a nuisance than anything reassuring.

Maybe your presence in Washington D.C. actually dealing with issues like health care and gun control would be more beneficial than running for the nearest Television camera to bolster your own self image.

Enough of that rant, Congratulations to every one that brought out what is good, actually great, about Connecticut Even though a tragedy occurred and lives were lost, you all made us proud of your efforts

SURVIVING A TORNADO, 40 YEARS TODAY

How time flies.

Forty years ago today I was right in the middle of a tornado. October 3, 1979 is a day myself, my late grandfather and many others will never forget.

After graduating High School in 1977 I had started a small landscaping business. My grandfather used to love tagging along with me, even if it was just riding in my dump truck. I had found an old 1950 International dump truck from a farmer in East Granby. It was a tank, air brakes, no power steering, a split rear axle and it would go though anything. I remember the day I went to DMV to get my class 2 license, the inspector had to go for a test drive  on the road. I remember when he got in the truck and started out, he remarked that if I could handle that truck, I had already passed my road test.

So back to the tornado. It was a rainy wet, humid day. Typical summer weather when you just new the afternoon would be filled with thunderstorms. There wasn't much landscaping to be done in that weather, the lawns were all too wet to mow. My grandfather and I gassed up the dump truck and headed to a sawmill in Granville , Mass to haul back some bark mulch from the mill. The rain was heavy on the way up and even worse on the return home. We had passed an area in East Granby where the rain was washing mud and dirt across Route 20 it was raining so hard. As we headed back into Windsor, we got onto Rainbow Road, just south of the Airport. I had grown up in that area and I was very familiar with the area. We were on Rainbow Road, right near what is now Browns Harvest Pumpkin Patch.

The rain was still heavy and the sky became a strange color, almost jade green. It was chaos around us with the strong wind and sudden green almost darkness, just then trees started snapping and electric poles began snapping off and laying across the road blocking our path, the power lines were popping and arcing all around us.

At the time, long before cell phones and text messaging, we had no idea.what was going on. The 1950 International Dump didn't have an AM radio in it. It was a work truck. The thought of a tornado hitting Windsor never even crossed my mind. Tornado's were things that happened out in the Midwest, not Connecticut.

I am glad we were in that tank of a truck, otherwise  who knows how we would have ended up. With all the debris around us, there was nowhere for us to go. We just had to sit there and try to figure out what had happened. Later that night, much later, utility workers and I think a couple of State DOT workers were coming up behind us clearing a path in the roadway.

We were eventually able to turn around and head back through East Granby to get home. The direction we were headed in , south on Poquonock Avenue in Windsor was the epicenter of what we learned from the Utility crews clearing our path was actually a tornado.  The road ahead of us was closed for some time afterward and there were concerns that there was structural damage to the Poquonock Bridge over the Farmington River.

There were other stories in that truck with Gramp, luckily he had a good strong heart with some of the near misses as he sat in the passenger seat, and that was before seat belts. I still miss you Gramp, but I will always remember the times we spent together

BRADLEY B-17 CRASH INFO UPDATE FROM CSP

Csp Bradley b17 Crash on Scribd