Watertown police investigating borough accident

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NAUGATUCK — A Middlebury man is recovering at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford after he was seriously injured in an Aug. 29 accident in the borough.

Officers from a regional accident reconstruction team continue to investigate the accident and expect to determine fault in about two weeks, said Sgt. Todd Robinson of the Watertown Police Department. Watertown officers took the lead on the case to avoid a conflict of interest because it involves 90-year-old Ruth Kirk of 235 Meadow St., who is the grandmother of borough Lt. Steven Hunt and Sgt. Ronald Hunt.

At about 2 p.m., Kirk was driving her 1995 Mercury Sable northbound on Route 63 in Naugatuck when she stopped to turn left onto Buckingham Street, police said. She saw a break in traffic and began to turn just as 22-year-old Brian Bessette, whose paperwork listed two different Middlebury addresses, was riding southbound on his 2009 Buell XB9SX motorcycle, Robinson said.

Bessette was riding alongside another motorcyclist, who swerved to avoid the crash, but Bessette hit the rear passenger side of Kirk’s car, police said. He sustained injuries to his back, chest, abdomen and legs, Robinson said.

Robinson said he did not know whether Bessette was wearing a helmet. He was taken to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury before he was stabilized and brought to Gaylord.

Robinson did not release information about the accident until Tuesday.