March 3, 2009

Bristol man killed in I-84 crash in East Hartford

Angela Ostrowski had hoped her husband Stanley, who worked as a medical courier, would get a different job that kept him closer to home and away from the highway.
But Tuesday morning, police came to the door of their ranch home on Federal Hill to tell her that Stanley Ostrowski had died in a crash on I-84.
“When they came, it shocked the hell out of me,” said Angela Ostrowski, remembering the awful moment.
According to state police, 62-year-old Stanley Ostrowski was heading west on near Exit 58 on I-84 a little before 6 a.m. when his vehicle, a 2006 Kia Sedona minivan, hit the back of a state snowplow headed in the same direction.
According to the state police accident summary, Ostrowski “suffered fatal injuries and was presumed dead on scene” at 6:10 a.m.
Stephen Petrello, 45, of Ashford, was driving the state Department of Transportation plow. He was not injured, police said.
“The investigation’s still ongoing,” said Sgt. Chris Johnson of the Connecticut State Police. He said the investigations typically take four to six months to complete.
The Associated Press reported the East Hartford crash shut down three lanes of traffic and caused a nine-mile back up. Traffic was slowed for more than four hours as a result.
Angela Ostrowski said her husband was working at his job for RAA Greenfield Transportation in Plainville – delivering medication to nursing homes – at the time of the crash Tuesday morning.
“He was a good driver,” said Angela Ostrowski. “He was no maniac. He took his time.”
The Ostrowskis met on the job in 1995, she said, and fell in love.
They got married in Las Vegas 13 years ago, she said, and were living a happy life in Bristol.
“We did everything together,” Angela Ostrowski said.
She said her husband recently took her to see “Jersey Boys” at the Bushnell in Hartford.
For more than a decade, the couple has lived in their little light blue house on historic Merriman Street near the Congregational Church.
Three wind chimes dangle from the front gutter and a small wreath hangs over the blue and white garage.
Inside the comfort of their cozy home, a big gray cat slept in the dining room and a big white teddy bear with a red heart sat on the sofa.
A stream of friends and relatives came to the house to offer solace, and Angela Ostrowski wept softy as she spoke about her husband.
“He was a good man,” she said. “He treated me like a queen.”
She said she is upset at the lack of information she’s received from the police about the crash. She said she learned more about the accident from news reports than she did from the police who delivered her husband’s driver’s license.
The trooper investigating the accident, she was told, is off for the next three days, so she doesn’t expect to learn much more very soon.
Stanley Ostrowski moved to Bristol after living in Middletown. He had served in the Connecticut National Guard.
Phil Dutremble, a neighbor, called Ostrowski’s death tragic. He said he felt especially bad for Angela Ostrowski.


*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

3 comments:

E JACKSON said...

Stan was a good honest man...i knew him for 2 years...Stan is missed.May GOD bless his family.

Anonymous said...

And we think we have problems!

Anonymous said...

It's too bad family doesn't keep in touch with other family members. it would have been nice to know about this, like this the family could have been there for his family.