HVRHS student dies in crash, third fatality this year

FALLS VILLAGE — Another Housatonic Valley Regional High School student has died in an automobile crash. This is the third such fatality this year.

Donald Blodgett, 17, a Sharon resident and a rising senior at the high school, was driving south on Route 7 in Falls Village at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 29. He was in a 1998 Subaru Forester registered to Clifford Wohlfert of North Canaan.

The report from Connecticut State Police said that he was negotiating a left curve in the road near Beebe Hill, lost control, entered the southbound shoulder of the road and hit a tree. The car then caught fire. 

Blodgett was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The incident is under investigation, even though Blodgett was the lone person in the car.

Arrest in Kosko fatality

An arrest was made in the fatality in Salisbury that occurred last week, on Friday, July 20.  

In that incident, Lukas Kosko, 18, of North Canaan. a June graduate of HVRHS,  and Christopher Hoyt, 18, of Sharon had been driving on Housatonic River Road in Salisbury at approximately 7:30 p.m. in a 1993 Jeep Wrangler.

State Police said that the Jeep lost control while turning a corner, then rode up an embankment on the right shoulder of Housatonic River Road and overturned in the roadway. 

Kosko died in Hartford Hospital after suffering fatal injuries in the crash. Police said he had not been wearing a seatbelt. 

Following the accident Hoyt, who reported no injury, was administered a standardized field sobriety test, which he failed. He was taken into custody and charged with traveling unreasonably fast and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

  Hoyt was scheduled to appear in Torrington Superior Court on Friday, Aug. 3. 

Kent fatality in May

In May, Deanna Lynn Silvernail, 22, of Lakeville (a recent graduate of Housatonic) was killed in a two-car crash on Skiff Mountain Road.

The driver of the car was Shelby Roger, 25, of Salisbury. Roger was taken by LifeStar helicopter to Hartford Hospital.

Also in the car was Angela Brazzale, 26, of Salisbury. She was taken by Sharon EMS to Sharon Hospital.

The driver of the second car was Brian Hastings, 37, of Kent, who was taken by LifeStar helicopter to St. Francis Hospital. 

Roger was driving a 2015 GMC Terrain south on Skiff Mountain Road; Hastings was traveling north on the same road, in a 2004 Lincoln Navigator.

According to a report on the incident from the State Police, the two cars collided head-on at a hillcrest. 

Silvernail was thrown out of the GMC and down a nearby steep embankment, west of the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

There is no indication that an arrest was made in that case. 

Call for caution on the road

Housatonic Valley Regional High School Principal Ian Strever sent out an email to members of the school community on July 29. 

He said in the email, “once again I must inform you of the premature death of one our students.”

He said that counselors would be at the school early this week to meet with students “who are coping with this tragedy or last week’s events.”

He concluded the email saying, “We extend our sincere condolences to the family, but also our urgent pleas to everyone in the Housatonic Valley community to use positive coping skills to process your grief and to make thoughtful decisions about risky behaviors. 

“We cannot continue to engage in this pattern of tragedy and grief, and we need the hearts and minds of everyone in our community to change it. If you are in a position to help a friend, sibling, or child, please do so, and let us know if we can help in any way.”

Of the students, Strever said, “Donald (known as D.G. to most), Lukas and Deanna were popular students, familiar to just about everyone in the school. 

“Each of them experienced obstacles and challenges along the way toward graduation, but all were working toward brighter futures. 

“It is a tragedy that none of them will experience the results of their efforts, and the entire Housatonic community is grieving their loss.”