Alleged Drunk Driver Rejects Plea Offer in Fatal North Haven Accident Case

Theodore Spalding, the driver of a pickup truck that struck and killed a young jogger last summer, rejected a state offer on Monday that, if he had plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter, in exchange he would have served no more than five years in prison, according to the New Haven Register.

By rejecting the deal, a trial will be set in possibly the next week or two, the Register reported. Spalding, 73, of North Haven, is being charged with second-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle and two counts of illegally operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

John Liquori, 20, also of North Haven, was out for a run on Middletown Avenue on July 16, 2014 when Spalding’s blue pickup truck hit him. Liquori died a day later at the hospital.

Read the full New Haven Register story here.