FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Middletown, CT) - Michael A. Gailor, State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Middlesex, announced that Frankie Montes-Rivera, age 52, of New Haven, was sentenced today by the Honorable Julia DiCocco Dewey to 25 years in prison, execution suspended after 10 years to serve, and five years of probation for multiple crimes he committed on October 12, 2021.
Montes-Rivera had pleaded guilty on September 26, 2023, in the Superior Court in Middletown, to charges of Robbery in the Third Degree in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-136, Robbery in the First Degree in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-134(a)(3), Assault on a Police Officer in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-167c and Interfering with a Police Officer in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-167a. He also admitted violating a previously imposed term of probation.
According to court records, on October 12, 2021, Montes-Rivera forcibly stole a car at a Citgo Gas Station on Chapel Street in New Haven. Later, after abandoning the car, he walked onto I-95 during rush hour traffic, where he entered and pushed the driver out of a tractor trailer and then attempted to drive away, striking several other vehicles in the process. The tractor trailer then crashed into a guardrail. A State Police Trooper arrived on the scene and, noting that there were several people behind the vehicle that Montes-Rivera was now attempting to put in reverse, deployed his Taser, striking Montes-Rivera in the leg. Montes-Rivera fell out of the truck where an Inspector from the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office, who was on the highway and responded to assist the Trooper, attempted to take Montes-Rivera into custody. During a struggle with the Inspector, Montes-Rivera reached for the Inspector’s gun, breaking the holster from the Inspector’s belt in the process. The Inspector, with the assistance of the Trooper, ultimately was able to take Montes-Rivera into custody. The Inspector suffered injuries during the incident.
“At sentencing hearings, we often focus on the defendant but in this case, I would like to take a moment and recognize the actions of the State Police Trooper and Division of Criminal Justice Inspector on October 12, 2021, and note their awareness and bravery during this incident and the compassion they showed toward the defendant once he was in custody,” State’s Attorney Gailor said. “Their bravery likely prevented others from being killed on the highway that day and the restraint they used in dealing with the defendant perhaps prevented the loss of the defendant’s life.”
In imposing the sentence, the court took note of the fact that Montes-Rivera was under the influence of drugs and was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the crimes but expressed that the crime was of such a serious nature that an extended period of probation was warranted.