A man who allegedly admitted to police that he should not have been behind the wheel because of his history of seizures has been sentenced to seven years in prison in connection with a crash that killed a construction worker in Hartford last year.
Tommy Nguyen, 26, faced sentencing on Monday in Hartford Superior Court where a judge handed him an 18-year prison term, suspended after service of seven years, and five years of probation, according to court records.
While on probation, a violation of his conditions would expose him to an additional 11 years behind bars, court records show.
The sentencing comes after Nguyen took a plea deal in August, pleading guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter in the death of 54-year-old Jose Diaz-Nieves of East Hartford. A number of charges were dropped in exchange for the plea, including those of risk of injury to a minor, reckless driving, operating under suspension and transporting a child between 5 and 8 years old without the proper restraint.
Nguyen’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
Nguyen was arrested following a crash reported just after noon on June 12, 2024, in the area of West Boulevard and South Whitney Street where police responded on a report of a construction worker being struck by a vehicle. According to Lt. Aaron Boisvert of the Hartford Police Department, emergency crews identified the worker as Diaz-Nieves and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Nguyen was found nearby in the driver seat of a disabled vehicle, Boisvert previously said. Two passengers, including a 5-year-old who was sitting on a passenger’s lap, were transported to an area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
According to the police report, a construction worker who witnessed the crash said she saw Nguyen allegedly speeding on West Boulevard where he “flew over” an open trench and struck Diaz-Nieves. Another witness told police Diaz-Nieves was “catapulted” over two dump trucks following the collision, the report said.
Video surveillance in the area showed Nguyen traveling quickly through the construction site and nearly hit the flagger before striking Diaz-Nieves and then two dump trucks, which disabled the vehicle and caused extensive damage, according to the report.
When police spoke to Nguyen, he said he was driving a family member home from the grocery store when his head felt like he was about to have a seizure and that he did not remember anything during the crash, the report said.
Nguyen also told police he frequently gets seizures and that they previously landed him in the hospital two to three times, though he said they would usually occur while he was asleep, according to the report. He also allegedly told police he never saw a specialist for his condition despite a doctor advising him to do so, the report said.
Nguyen said he was involved in a previous crash that was caused by a seizure and led to him striking an electrical box in Hartford, police wrote in the report. He also allegedly told police he had had about 10 seizures in the past two months and was aware that both his license was suspended and that his car was not registered, the report said.
“I know that I probably shouldn’t be driving because I have seizures, but I never know when they are going to happen or what causes them to happen,” Nguyen said in his statement to police, according to the report.
Family members who arrived at the scene reportedly asked emergency crews if Nguyen had had “another seizure,” the report said.
