Florida man accused of assaulting coworker as he crashed box truck on I-95

Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant
·2 min read
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A Florida man crashed a box truck off Interstate 95 in Greenwich on Sunday and went down an embankment as he was allegedly assaulting a coworker, state police said.

The crash was reported just after 4:30 p.m. on I-95 South in the area of Exit 5, where troopers and members of the Greenwich Police Department responded, according to Connecticut State Police.

Upon arrival, troopers learned that the crash occurred during an alleged physical altercation between 46-year-old Vilhomme Mondesir of Lake Worth, Florida and two coworkers, ages 25 and 23, state police said.

According to the coworkers, they got into an argument with Mondesir after he stopped the box truck at a shopping plaza to get food and, upon returning to the vehicle, said he was going to get back to driving immediately. Having been driving for several hours before the stop, the workers alleged that they asked for additional break time and were yelled at by Mondesir, who allegedly told them they did not need breaks, state police said.

Mondesir then began driving and got onto I-95 South, where the argument allegedly continued when the coworkers told him he could lose his job if he did not allow them to take breaks, according to state police. During the dispute, state police allege that Mondesir struck one of the coworkers in the face, prompting the other worker to intervene.

The truck began swerving during the argument and struck a metal beam guardrail before going down an embankment, according to state police.

State police said the victim who was allegedly assaulted had facial injuries. The other worker reported minor injuries.

According to state police, dashboard camera footage from inside the truck reportedly corroborated the coworkers’ account of what happened.

Mondesir was taken into custody and transported to the Troop G barracks in Bridgeport where he was charged with two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment and a single count each of third-degree assault and failure to maintain the proper lane.

He was held on $5,000 bond and was expected to be arraigned Monday in Stamford Superior Court.