Man gets 16 years in prison for crash that killed a Connecticut officer

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A 20-year-old Connecticut man was sentenced to 16 years in prison Friday for causing a car crash that killed a Hartford police officer and seriously wounded the officer’s partner after fleeing a traffic stop.

Richard Barrington, who was an 18-year-old high school junior at the time of the 2023 crash, apologized for the fatal accident in Hartford Superior Court as relatives of the officers looked on.

Officer Robert “Bobby” Garten, 34, an eight-year Hartford police veteran whose father retired as a detective on the force, died from his injuries. Garten’s partner, Officer Brian Kearney, who was driving their cruiser, was seriously injured.

Authorities said Barrington fled a traffic stop conducted by other officers, drove through two red lights and smashed into the passenger side of Garten and Kearney’s cruiser, which was responding to an unrelated emergency call on Sept. 6, 2023.

“I want to apologize for all the days, months, and years of pain and grief that I’ve caused and are currently causing,” Barrington said in court. “No mother, father, sibling, kid, or friend should have to endure the pain and grief you are enduring.”

Barrington pleaded guilty in April to manslaughter, first-degree assault and interfering with a police officer.

Garten’s family said they wanted Barrington to serve more than 40 years in prison,

“This is it, this is what Mr. Barrington gets for killing my brother?” William Garten told members of the media after the sentencing. “That’s the end of this kind of story, and we’ll have to continue to honor Bobby in some other way because today we let him down.”

1. A memorial service for Garten drew police officers from across the region.