Family Seeks $35M In Crash That Killed North Haven Woman: Report

NORTH HAVEN, CT — A North Haven man is suing the federal government for $35 million in connection to a fatal crash that killed his wife in Hamden last year, according to the New Haven Register. Courtney Bothwell, of North Haven, was arrested earlier this year for the crash that occurred July 28, 2018 on Dixwell Avenue in the vicinity of Old Dixwell Avenue.

Kristin Wilczynski, 50, of North Haven, was attempting to cross the street when she was struck by a vehicle that was driven by Bothwell. Emergency crews rendered medical assistance to Wilczynski, who was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital where she died shortly thereafter, police said at the time.

Bothwell, who was 28 at the time and a member of the Milford Police Department, was arrested on a warrant Jan. 2 and charged with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, failure to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian and distracted driving/not cell. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is due back in court July 29, according to state judicial records.

The Register reports Edward Wilczynski, Kristin’s husband, recently filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming that Bothwell was working as a Task Force Officer for the FBI and driving a vehicle leased by the bureau at the time of the incident. The lawsuit claims that Bothwell was careless, reckless, and therefore negligent, when she struck Kristin Wilczynski.

Bothwell, who was off-duty at the time, told police at the scene that she looked away from the road to grab a puppy that was riding with her in the vehicle when the crash occurred, the Register previously reported.

Read more at the New Haven Register here.