Man Causes Power Outage in Redding, Gets into Second Accident Later

Monday wasn’t a great day for Richard McLaughlin.

McLaughlin, 53, of Easton was driving on Route 107 in Redding towards Georgetown when he lost control of his dump truck that was towing a small piece of landscaping equipment, causing the trailer to roll over and strike the utility pole, taking it down at approximately 8:17 a.m.

Just after many Redding residents got their power turned back on, the accident caused a little more than half of the customers in Redding to be once again without power.

Police Chief Douglas Fuchs said the accident took out power at each of the town’s schools. The high school and middle school were running okay on generators, but the elementary school was not. The fire department brought a water tanker there so the school could flush its toilets.

“I was over at the elementary school and I was very impressed with the calmness at that school,” Fuchs said.

Fuchs said the police department contacted the state police truck squad.

“They went over the vehicle completely and made sure no stone was left unturned,” Fuchs said.

McLaughlin was charged by state police with operating a vehicle outside his proper license classification. Fuchs said Redding Police charged him with “numerous other movement violations.”

“He was issued approximately $2,000 worth of tickets. He will be responsible for the pole bill. Connecticut Light & Power will back-charge him for the cost of the day,” Fuchs said. “That put us way behind in power.”

At 12:41 p.m. later that day, police responded to a motor vehicle accident on Peaceable Street. McLoughlin was once again involved.

“He was driving another different dump truck,” Fuchs said, adding his license allowed him to drive a vehicle of that class.

The second accident remains under investigation.