PUTNAM — A 29-year-old man struck by a vehicle at Riverfront Commons early Sunday has died, and police have arrested a Woodstock man on first-degree manslaughter and other charges, according to an updated Putnam Police Department release.
Police identified the accused driver as Brandon Livingston of Woodstock. They said he was charged with first-degree manslaughter, evading responsibility involving serious injury or death, and disorderly conduct. The charges are allegations, not convictions.
The department’s October 18 release said Livingston was held on $750,000 bond for an October 19 arraignment in Danielson Superior Court. In a report published Monday evening, The Day said court records showed a judge left that bond in place. Eastern CT News has not independently reviewed the underlying court docket or arrest report.
The Day’s Greg Smith reported that police still had not publicly identified the 29-year-old victim. The newspaper’s account describes a continuing investigation; it does not establish a conviction or final finding about how the collision occurred.
Dispatchers received the original 911 call at approximately 2:01 a.m. Sunday, October 18, reporting a vehicle-pedestrian collision in the Riverfront Commons parking lot near 235 Kennedy Drive. Officers found the injured man there. Putnam EMS took him to Day Kimball Hospital, and he was later flown to UMass Hospital, police said. The department’s evening update says he subsequently died; it does not name him.
Investigators allege Livingston and the victim had a physical altercation that other people broke up. Police say Livingston then entered his vehicle, drove away recklessly, struck the victim and continued from the scene. That sequence is the department’s account and has not been adjudicated.
Officers located and apprehended Livingston a short time later and seized the vehicle involved, according to the release. The investigation remains active with assistance from the Connecticut State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad and Eastern District Major Crime Squad. Police said no further information or booking photograph was available.
Earlier Sunday, the initial police release reported life-threatening injuries and recovery of the vehicle without announcing an arrest. The Day’s 3:31 p.m. report added that police had located the driver. The new police release supersedes those earlier limits by confirming the death, arrest and charges. WINY Radio also published the updated police account; its repetition of the release is not independent evidence of the alleged sequence.
WINY’s earlier original report said the parking lot had reopened, without giving an exact reopening time. No current closure or continuing threat is established by the new police release.
This is separate from the October 9 School Street hit-and-run previously covered by Eastern CT News. The incidents occurred on different dates and at different locations; no connection has been established.
Update October 18, evening: Added the death, arrest, charges, bond, scheduled arraignment and alleged preceding altercation after directly reading the complete new police release and WINY’s original report. The original article ID, publication date, credited police-vehicle file photo and prior delivery history are preserved.
Update October 19, late evening: Added The Day’s report of Monday’s court appearance and unchanged $750,000 bond after reading its full article, published at 7:15 p.m. and updated at 8:58 p.m. The October 18 police release remains the source for the original charges and arrest account.
The department’s published nonemergency number is 860-928-6565, and its crime-tip hotline is 860-963-0000. Call 911 for an emergency.