CRIME TIP HOTLINE:  860-527-TIPS

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:  Tuesday, August 1,  2006

Police Identify Motor Vehicle Accident Fatalities.

(Hartford) - Detectives of the Hartford Police Department's Crime Scene Division (CSD), have identified the operator of the motorcycle involved in a fatal accident yesterday at Fern and Whitney Streets in Hartford as Jose Rivera, 32, of Ellington Street, Hartford.  Rivera, who was pronounced dead at the scene, had a female passenger on the back of his motorcycle at the time of the accident.  The passenger, Karen Morales, age 16, from Marshall Street in Hartford, passed away early this morning at St. Francis Hospital as a result of the injuries she sustained from the collision.

Rivera had been traveling Eastbound on Fern Street when he ran a red light at Whitney Street and collided with a Van, driven by Jennifer Brown, age 41, of Vernon, as it was traveling Southbound on Whitney Street.  The motorcycle Rivera was operating was unregistered, uninsured, and its marker plate was a misuse.  Rivera did not have a Connecticut motorcycle license.

An investigation of the fatal accident is being conducted by the Hartford Police Department's Crime Scene Division.  Anyone who may have witnessed or have information about the incident is asked to contact Sergeant Jason Thody, Commander of the CID, at 527-6300, extension 5247, or the Hartford Police Department's tip hotline, 527-TIPS.

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Contact:   Nancy Mulroy, Public Information Officer, Hartford Police Department,  (860) 543-8746
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