Truck driver faces charge in accident that severed pole in borough

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NAUGATUCK – Police charged a truck driver from Bristol with evading responsibility for an accident in which his tractor-trailer severed a utility pole Tuesday morning on Union City Road.

Julian Gadomski, 32, swerved to the right in a 2005 International truck shortly before 4 a.m. and struck the pole, causing it to snap in half at the center and leaving it dangling over the road by lines attached to other poles, Naugatuck Police Department spokesman Lt. Robert Harrison said.

Gadomski said he was trying to avoid a deer and did not think he had damaged the pole, although his side view mirror snapped off. The passenger side of the trailer sustained heavy damage and was leaking hydraulic fluid, Harrison said. Gadomski claimed he did not notice most of the damage to the truck until he reached Envipco, a recycling company in the borough’s industrial park where he works. He then returned to the scene of the accident, Harrison said.

A transformer had fallen into the cargo area of the trailer, causing police to shut down Union City Road while they tried to determine whether the transformer oil was toxic, Harrison said. It turned out to contain no environmental hazards, Harrison said.

Police also charged Gadomski with failing to drive in the proper lane. He was released on a $2,500 bond to appear Oct. 27 in Waterbury Superior Court.