Corrections Officer Charged In Fatal Road Rage Shooting In Meriden: PD

MERIDEN, CT — A North Haven man who works as a corrections officer has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting in a “road-rage” incident on I-691 in Meriden last week, according to Connecticut State Police.

William Lucky Jr., 32, was arrested Tuesday on a warrant in connection with the shooting that killed 49-year-old Scott Kracke, of Middlefield, on Jan. 14.

State troopers responded around 8 p.m. on Jan. 14 to multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting on I-691 East near Exit 2A in Meriden. Troopers found Kracke lying on the right shoulder with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police.

Kracke’s fiancé, Crystal Boganski, told police at the scene that she was in the passenger seat of his 2018 Nissan pickup truck when a dark-colored sedan cut in front of them and caused Kracke to stop abruptly and upset him, according to the arrest warrant.

Boganski said Kracke then passed the sedan, moved in front and “brake checked” the vehicle, the warrant states. Kracke then stopped on the right side of the highway and got out of the truck. Boganski said she got out of the truck and encountered a friend who went to dinner with them earlier in the evening and was traveling farther behind them, according to the warrant.

Boganski said she then saw Kracke lying on his back on the ground, and said she was in shock and thought the other vehicle may have driven over him, and that she didn’t hear any gunshots while she was in the truck, police wrote.

Another witness told police that they saw Kracke and the other driver face-to-face, and the other driver shot Kracke several times, according to the warrant.

Kracke was taken to Hartford Hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died. An autopsy determined the cause of death as gunshot wounds to Kracke’s head, torso, and extremities, according to police. The manner of death was certified as a homicide.

Lucky went to the Hamden Police Department nearly two hours after the shooting to report that he was involved in a road rage incident and shot someone, according to the warrant.

Lucky, who identified himself as a Department of Corrections officer, told police the incident happened on I-691 and he shot someone because they were reaching for something, the warrant states. Lucky said he drove away from the scene because he had his young child in the vehicle and was afraid the other party would come after him, according to the warrant.

Lucky then invoked his right to remain silent.

The child’s mother told police that they were in the car with Lucky, traveling in the fast lane on I-691 when a truck traveling ahead of them in the right lane moved left and Lucky honked the horn before the truck almost struck their vehicle, according to the warrant. She said Lucky stopped behind the truck and the baby started crying.

She said the driver of the truck got out of his vehicle, yelled and ran up to their vehicle. She said Lucky got out of their vehicle “and things just happened very fast from then on,” police wrote in the warrant.

She told police that the other driver was very upset, looked mad, and said “What the (expletive) is your problem!” according to the warrant. Then, as the driver got near their vehicle, she said “everything went hell,” the warrant states. She said she heard shots and everyone freaked out.

When Lucky got back to the vehicle, she told police that he was crying and saying “I didn’t want to do this” and “What the (expletive) did I just do?” according to the warrant. Lucky then told her that he would drop them off at home and he would go turn himself in.

Lucky was arrested Jan. 23 and charged with murder. He was being held in lieu of a $2.5 million bond and was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.