TOLLAND, CT — The mother of a Coventry teenager who had been facing a felony criminal charge and others in connection with a Tolland man being hit by a car while removing snow on his road over the winter has been charged with evidence tampering, according to a warrant.
The central issue is missing dash cam footage from that day and Melissa Piccoli, 48, has been implicated in the case, according to a warrant. She is due in court on Aug, 12. Her daughter, Brenna Reynolds, was originally charged with evidence tampering, evading responsibility, failure to drive in the proper lane, providing a false statement and interfering with police. Her case records have been sealed in Rockville Superior Court and a plea hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16, judicial system records show.
The crash took place Feb. 12 along the 100 block of Mile Hill Road, according to a warrant.
At 5:32 p.m., 22 minutes after dusk, according to a warrant, a man was located laying on the northbound shoulder in the snow and it appeared both he and his orange snowblower had been hit by a car. The man told state police that he was moving the snowblower up the road to help out his neighbor when a white sedan swerved into the shoulder and hit the snowblower, which, in turn, slammed into the him, according to a warrant.
The man said the impact knocked him into the snow and caused him to have chest pains, according to a warrant.
He did identify the vehicle as a white sedan and state police collected three pieces of white bumper at the scene, according to a warrant.
The car had fled the scene, state police said.
State police then sent out a description of the vehicle and its damage on social media and tips led them to a property in Coventry, according to a warrant.
State police went to the home, looked into the garage and noticed a white sedan with missing bumper pieces and orange paint marks on it, according to a warrant. While on the property, police were unsuccessful in contacting the resident of an apartment there who was identified as being connected to the white sedan, but noticed a woman peeking at them through blinds and recording them, according to a warrant.
The landlord finally gave police access to the garage and the car was inspected and identified as belonging to the teen, according to a warrant. The teen told state police she felt a bump as she was driving, but thought it was an animal.
A review of dash cam footage by investigators showed a sequence at the time of the crash had gone missing, according to a warrant.
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