Wrong-way driver on I-95 charged with DUI following collision with CT state police cruiser
A Rhode Island man was charged with DUI early Monday after he drove the wrong way on Interstate 95 in Madison and was involved in a crash with a Connecticut State Police cruiser.
State police said Paul Usenia, who will turn 83 on Friday, was also charged with reckless driving, failure to maintain the proper lane and driving the wrong way on a divided highway following the collision, which was reported in the area of Exit 61 on I-95 South at about 3:42 a.m.
According to state police, Usenia was reportedly seen driving a Ford F150 heading north in the southbound lanes before a trooper tried to pull him over. Usenia, state police said, “did not stop and collided with” a trooper’s cruiser, which sustained damage to its left front quarter panel.
The F150 sustained damage to its “entire right side,” state police said. Both vehicles needed to be towed.
Usenia was released without having to post bond and is set to be arraigned in New Haven Superior Court on July 7.