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The incident took place in Tolland County on Friday, July 22, 2022, at a construction site in Vernon that killed Hartford County resident, Dennis Slater, age 56, of East Windsor.
Hartford County resident Dennis Botticello, age 67, of Suffield, and Tolland County resident Glen Locke, age 65, of Somers, were charged on Friday, March 3 in connection with a fatal trench collapse, said Lt. Robert Marra, of the Vernon Police.
On July 22, 2022, at 4:14 p.m., Vernon Police and the Vernon Fire Department responded to a trench collapse in a new housing development off Bolton Branch Road in Vernon.
Slater, who was working for Botticello Inc. became trapped inside a trench when the dirt collapsed in on him.
Emergency personnel and construction workers were able to free Slater from the trench and provide medical aid. Slater was transported to Manchester Memorial Hospital by ambulance. He later died of his injuries, Marra said.
Botticello is the owner of Botticello Inc., which is based in Hartford County in Manchester. OSHA fined Boteticello $375,000 earlier this year for unsafe conditions on the construction site.
Locke was the equipment operator working in close proximity to Slater at the time of the collapse, police said.
Botticello and Locke were each charged with first-degree manslaughter and first-degree reckless endangerment.
Both men were held in lieu of a $50,000 court-set bond and are scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court, on Monday, March 6. said. “We have outstanding
This incident remains under investigation by the Vernon Police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Vernon Police Department at 860-872-9126.
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