Mystery Surrounds Man Who Boarded Bus After Being Struck By Hit & Run Driver, Later Dying

This report is based on New Haven and East Haven police reports and answered queries, as well as interviews and questions posed to the East Haven Fire Department, Yale New Haven Hospital, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

EAST HAVEN, CT— With a cold, dusky sky darkening on Feb. 11, it was 6 p.m. when Dominic R. Landolfi III, 61, was struck by a hit-and-run driver near the city bus stop on Forbes Avenue and Stiles Street. Minutes after being struck, Landolfi boarded a CT Transit bus headed to East Haven.

But while en route home, the father and grandfather fell to the bus floor and told the driver to call 911. The bus was met on Coe and Soundview avenues by an East Haven firefighter and a firefighter paramedic.

Landolfi told the paramedic, Liam Hamill, that he slipped and fell on the ice. He only allowed Hamill examine his body when in an ambulance, and by then he was suffering severe pain and having trouble breathing.

What injuries the seasoned East Haven paramedic discovered had him redirect the ambulance from the Saint Raphael Campus of Yale New Haven Hospital to the main campus’ emergency department on York Street, home of a trauma center.

Two days later, Landolfi was dead.

‘Inconsistent with a fall’

When the CT Transit bus pulled up to the Forbes stop that cold February night, the driver saw Landolfi on the ground, on his knees. He lifted himself up, boarded the bus, paid his fare, and sat behind the driver. Within minutes, he was on the floor of the bus.

At 6:24 p.m., East Haven Public Safety received the call from CT Transit dispatch.

When EHFD emergency responders arrived, Landolfi was lying on his side on the bus floor. He complained of dizziness and shortness of breath and appeared pale and anxious. Dried blood was visible on his lips and teeth, and he had a cut on his tongue. His blood pressure and heart rate were elevated. When asked how he had been injured, Landolfi told responders he had slipped and fallen on ice but could not say when.

Landolfi was able to stand and get off the bus with help before being placed on a stretcher and put in the ambulance. He denied being struck by a vehicle when questioned at the hospital. He said he slipped on ice.

The medics' best guess was that he’d been hit by a car.

A six-year veteran of the East Haven Fire Department, paramedic Hamill performed "his best due diligence," the fire chief said. He discovered serious injuries hidden under winter clothing, injuries that Marcarelli said both Hamill and Yale New Haven Hospital emergency department staff would later determine were "inconsistent" with a fall.

Two days later, on Feb. 13 at around 6:19 p.m., East Haven police were notified of Landolfi’s sudden death at Yale–New Haven Hospital. Police opened an investigation. The hospital had contacted Investigator Lauren Brooks from the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who decided that the circumstances warranted further investigation.

An autopsy was done Feb. 14 at the OCME, with East Haven Investigating Officer Detective Nicholas Adams present. According to the report, Landolfi suffered multiple broken ribs on his right side, several pelvic fractures, and a small fracture of a vertebra in his neck. He’d also suffered significant liver trauma and extensive internal bleeding, with more than a quart of blood found in his chest and abdominal cavity. Bruising and abrasions consistent with road rash were noted on the right side of his abdomen.

The medical examiner said the injuries were inconsistent with a simple fall on ice and instead suggested a high-force impact, possibly consistent with being struck by a vehicle. The official cause and manner of death are pending.

Adams got surveillance footage from CT Transit, which shows the bus stopping near United Rentals at 161–163 Forbes Ave. in New Haven. Landolfi can be seen getting up from the roadway before boarding the bus. A nearby snowbank looked to be disturbed, “with snow pushed into the street, as if it had been struck,” the report reads.

East Haven police soon shared their findings with New Haven police. On Feb. 18, the case was assigned to the New Haven Police Department's Accident Reconstruction Team for what was by then, a fatal hit and run.

Cops have the car, but not the driver. Yet.

Though under active investigation, New Haven police did share with Patch that investigators have video surveillance footage of the crash—of the car hitting Landolfi and fleeing. And police have since been able to not only identify the car but also recover it.

But as of Thursday morning, police have not yet identified the driver.

Police urge anyone with information that may be helpful to investigators to call the police at 203-946-6304 or through the department's anonymous tip-line at 866-888-TIPS (8477).