Connecticut State Police Say Thanksgiving Weekend Arrests, Tickets Were Up

Troopers patrolled roadways and held sobriety checkpoints throughout the state from Tuesday, Nov. 25, to Sunday, Nov. 30, officials said. 

State troopers made 52 DUI arrests, compared with 43 in 2013. Seatbelt tickets nearly doubled, jumping from 170 in 2013 to 314 in 2014, police said. 

Police also issued 3,538 tickets for hazardous moving violations in 2014 versus 2,548 in 2013, police said. 

The only category that dropped in 2014 was speeding tickets, which went from 1,134 in 2014 to 1,106 this year, police said. 

State troopers also investigated 934 accidents, 97 of which involved injury. Only one accident proved fatal, after a Norwalk man crashed on Route 7 near the I-95 interchange, police said. 

The driver, Luis M. Contreras, 29, lost control of his vehicle and was ejected in a one-car crash at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, state police said.

Contreras was traveling south in the center lane of Route 7 when his car swerved to the right for an unknown reason, state police said. The car struck the metal guardrail off the right shoulder that separates the Route 7 southbound ramp to West Avenue and spun around.  

Contreras was ejected through the driver-side window and "came to rest on the roadway of the Route 7 southbound ramp to 1-95 northbound," said a statement from state police.

Contreras was pronounced dead at the scene by Norwalk emergency medical service personnel. No other vehicles or people were involved.

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