Man Responsible for Avon Mountain Crash Seeking Early Release

Eight years ago, David Wilcox’s dump truck careened down Avon Mountain, crashing into dozens of cars and killing five people. The truck was unsafe and uninsured and in addition to the five lives that were lost, 23 people were injured. 

Now, the 77-year-old owner of American Crushing and Recycling in Bloomfield, who has been in jail since being convicted on manslaughter and assault charges in 2009, is ill and seeking early release from prison, according to WFSB.

Wilcox was sentenced to six years in jail after he pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree manslaughter and four counts of first-degree assault, according to a previous Patch article.

The victims were Abdulraheem Naafi, 41 of Hartford, who drove the truck and Barbara Bongiovanni, 54 of Torrington; Paul “Chip” Stotler, 42, of New Hartford; and Maureen Edlund, 60, of Canton.

His son, Shaun A. Wilcox, 32, had his three-year probation terminated a year early. His wife, Donna Wilcox, 47, received a five-year suspended sentence and three years probation for insurance fraud. She reportedly tried to reinstate insurance coverage for the truck involved in the crash after the accident. Shaun Wilcox confessed to shredding the truck’s maintenance records. 

Wilcox could be released to a half-way house, WFSB said, or serve out the rest of his sentence until its end on Nov. 6, 2014. No hearing date has yet been set but survivors of the crash have already said they object to Wilcox's early release.