Man killed in accident in Prospect

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PROSPECT — A 23-year-old Wolcott man was killed when his SUV swerved off Summit Road in Prospect early Saturday morning, state police said.

Dustin Paolino, of 38 Colonial Court, was driving a 2003 Toyota 4Runner around 2 a.m. Saturday when he came to a sharp bend, crossed lanes and went off the roadway, striking a large rock and stone wall, police said. He was thrown from the vehicle as it overturned, suffering fatal injuries, police said.

Prospect Mayor Robert Chatfield said that stretch of Summit Road is not known to be particularly dangerous and that there are other curves that see far more accidents.

“That’s the first accident there in quite some time,” Chatfield said.

The fire department provided lighting for a state police accident reconstruction crew until daylight Saturday. The vehicle knocked loose a guide wire to a utility pole but the pole remained upright, Chatfield said.

Paolino played guitar for the metal band “Forget Tomorrow” for several years and was training in welding, according to Forget Tomorrow vocalist Avery Taylor, of Waterbury.

Taylor, on Monday, remembered Paolino as someone who always put friends’ needs before his own. That sometimes meant giving someone a ride home in the middle of the night or lending money to help a friend through a rough patch or simply making someone feel at ease.

The band was to play a memorial show Feb. 27 for 24-year-old Jeremy Rucker of Naugatuck, who was killed in a car wreck in Waterbury one year ago.

Now, Taylor said, the band is trying to pull together a memorial show for Paolino.

Paolino was also very handy. He did much of the work retrofitting a school shuttle as the band’s tour bus, including building bunk beds. He also kept the bus running on summer tours up and down the East coast, playing clubs, halls and other venues, Taylor said.

Paolino leaves behind a younger brother, two parents and devoted friends, Taylor said.

“You couldn’t ask for a better friend. You couldn’t ask for a better son. You couldn’t ask for a better brother,” Taylor said.