Robbery, Carjacking, Officer Assault Gets Man 25 Years In Prison: SA

NEW HAVEN, CT —Frankie Montes-Rivera, 52, of New Haven, was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison, execution suspended after 10 years to serve, and five years of probation for multiple crimes he committed Oct. 12, 2021, prosecutors said.

Montes-Rivera pleaded guilty Sept. 26 in Middletown Superior Court to charges of first-degree robbery, third-degree robbery, assault on a police officer, and interfering with a police officer, according to Michael A. Gailor, State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Middlesex.

According to the state's attorney and court records, that October day in 2921, Montes-Rivera forcibly stole a car at a Citgo Gas Station on Chapel Street in New Haven. Later, after abandoning the car, he walked onto I-95 during rush hour traffic, officials said. There, he got into a tractor trailer after pushing the driver out and attempted to drive away, striking several other cats in the process, prosecutors said. He then crashed the tractor trailer into a guardrail, the state's attorney noted. Soon, a state trooper arrived and, noting that there were several people behind the vehicle that Montes-Rivera was now attempting to put in reverse, deployed his Taser, striking Montes-Rivera in the leg, Gailor said.

Montes-Rivera fell out of the truck where an inspector from the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office, who was on the highway and responded to assist the trooper, attempted to take Montes-Rivera into custody, prosecutors said.

During a struggle with the inspector, Montes-Rivera reached for the inspector’s gun, breaking the holster from the inspector’s belt in the process, it's noted in Gailor's news release. The inspector, with the assistance of the trooper, ultimately was able to take Montes-Rivera into custody, though the inspector suffered injuries during the incident, the state's attorney noted.

“At sentencing hearings, we often focus on the defendant but in this case, I would like to take a moment and recognize the actions of the trooper and inspector and note their awareness and bravery during this incident and the compassion they showed toward the defendant once he was in custody,” Gailor said. "Their bravery likely prevented others from being killed on the highway that day and the restraint they used in dealing with the defendant perhaps prevented the loss of the defendant’s life.”

"In imposing the sentence, the court took note of the fact that Montes-Rivera was under the influence of drugs and was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the crimes but expressed that the crime was of such a serious nature that an extended period of probation was warranted," the news release from Gailor reads.