State Police: Lt. in Feb. Accident Had Alcohol, Drugs in System

The state police lieutenant involved in a February motor vehicle accident had methadone and morphine in his system, in addition to a trace amount of alcohol, an arrest affidavit says.

Lt. Timothy Kradas, 47, of Somers, appeared in Superior Court in Manchester Monday.

He was arrested and charged earlier this month with operating under the influence of liquor, drugs, or both, failure to drive at a reasonable distance, failure to wear a safety belt and littering, according to police records.

Kradas threw a bag containing beer cans and an empty vodka bottle from his cruiser onto the roadway after the accident, according to the affidavit, written by Sgt. Dwight Washington.

Kradas is currently on leave from his duties with the Department of Public Safety’s grants division, according to department spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance. Kradas has been on sick leave since the Feb. 2 accident, during which he suffered non-life threatening injuries that required surgery.

When the lieutenant returns to the department he will be assigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of the court proceedings and a separate internal investigation, Vance said.

According to Washington’s affidavit, Kradas’ cruiser struck the back of a box truck on Interstate 84 east near exit 59 in Manchester shortly before 2 p.m. on Feb. 2. The road was slick from an earlier snowfall.

Although the box truck did not sustain much damage, and the driver was not injured, the cruiser was wedged under the back of the truck and sustained extensive front-end damage, Washington wrote.

When Washington arrived from Troop H in Hartford 10 minutes after the call, the sergeant saw two brown paper bags containing unopened and opened beer cans, an empty bottle of vodka, along with an empty Dunkin Donuts cup and container of vegetable juice in the road near the front passenger door of the cruiser.

Washington wrote that the driver of the box truck, Lambert Williams, 50, of Massachusetts, said he saw Kradas throw the items out the front driver’s side window of the cruiser and later saw their contents. Kradas had a wound to his forehead, wrote Washington, and Williams called 911 to report the accident.

After securing the accident scene, Washington went to Hartford Hospital to talk to Kradas. When he arrived he smelled alcohol emanating from the room, according to the affidavit. He confirmed his impression with a trooper who had been assigned to stay with Kradas in the hospital and who said he smelled the alcohol on Kradas’ breath, Washington wrote.

Kradas later told Washington that he had consumed two beers that morning, according to the affidavit.

During the course of the investigation and a review of Kradas’ cruiser, detectives found one empty beer can under the front driver’s side seat, Washington wrote.

State police obtained a search warrant to test a blood sample taken from Kradas during the normal course of medical treatment, Washington wrote. It came back as containing amounts of methadone and morphine and an alcohol level of 0.01 percent by weight, a level below the drunken driving threshold of 0.08 percent, according to the affidavit.

Kradas had previously undergone back surgery for injuries he had sustained earlier in his career while on duty.

Kradas is next scheduled to appear in court on April 25.