Teen Charged In Fatal Crash Involving 14-Year-Old: Orange Police

ORANGE, CT — A 16-year-old male teen from Waterbury was charged on a warrant this week in connection with a fatal crash involving a 14-year-old teen in October 2023, police said.

The fatal crash occurred on Derby Avenue "involving a stolen BMW and a tractor-trailer in late October 2023," police said.

"The 16-year-old and others, including 14-year-old Jasser Ciprian, who died at the scene, were involved in stealing the BMW from Milford before running a red light at high speed and crashing into a tractor-trailer traveling on Rt. 34 at Orange Center Road," police said in a news release on Thursday.

The arrest warrant included a detention order, which means that the 16-year-old was held at Bridgeport Juvenile Detention Center after being charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, second offense, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree manslaughter, police said.

More charges and arrests are expected, police said.

Police at the time of the crash said it occurred at 3:53 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2023. The black 2015 BMW 328xi was reported stolen out of Milford earlier on Oct. 30, police said.

The motor vehicle collision happened at the intersection of Derby Avenue (Route 34) and Orange Center (Route 152), police said. The collision took out a utility pole at the intersection, resulting in an electrical and traffic light outage, and the roadway remained closed for several hours, police said.

The initial investigation revealed the tractor-trailer was traveling westbound on Derby Avenue in the right lane when it crashed with the BMW at the intersection, police said. The tractor-trailer had a green traffic signal, and the BMW had been reported stolen from the driveway of a residence in Milford near the Orange town line about 12 minutes earlier, police said at the time of the crash.

There was an unknown white, 4-door sedan also seen in the area of the theft, and it presumably stopped immediately after the crash and picked up the driver of the BMW, police said at the time of the crash.

The passenger of the BMW, identified as Ciprian, 14, from Waterbury, was ejected in the crash and was pronounced dead on scene, police said. The driver of the tractor-trailer sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was treated at an area hospital, police said.

Patch editor Saul Flores contributed to this story.