State PD Releases Video From Sergeant-Involved Crash

SOUTHBURY, CT — State Police have released body camera footage from a supervisor who responded to a trooper-involved crash in Southbury that left a mother and daughter injured.

Sgt. John McDonald crashed into a vehicle after failing to stop at a stop sign, according to police. Lisa and Madison Conroy filed a lawsuit against McDonald, the state and Black Hog Brewing’s owners. The lawsuit alleges that McDonald had been drinking at the brewery earlier in the evening along with several other state police personnel. State Police are conducting an internal investigation into the reported gathering and whether any personnel violated the state’s zero-tolerance policy for drinking and operating a state-owned vehicle.

McDonald is performing regular duty assignments as the investigation progresses, according to the Hartford Courant.

Related: Lawsuit Filed In State PD Sergeant Crash

Sgt. Shawn Prusinowski went to the crash scene to assist Southbury Police officers. At first he didn’t have his body camera activated because it was low on battery and charging in his car, but he activated it when he realized one of the vehicles involved was a “soft” state police vehicle that lacked the distinctive features of other state police vehicles, according to his report.

In the video, Southbury trooper barracks commander Lt. Christopher Bartolla tells Prusinowski that police would document the crash like any other and that, “I’m not getting anybody jammed up for trying to do something they shouldn’t be doing.”

State Police previously said that McDonald wasn’t given a field sobriety test because he was taken away from the crash scene via ambulance.

State police are conducting internal and criminal investigations into McDonald, other troopers and the response of troopers at the crash scene. They have filed search warrants for any medical records at the hospital, surveillance video from the hospital, ambulance records and other records, according to the Courant.

Normally a crash investigation would fall to Southbury Police, but in this instance Prusinowski became the lead investigator due to the involvement of McDonald.