A man who struck a high school student with a car in Avon last October and drove about four miles before he pulled him off the vehicle and took off without getting help has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Alex Rivera, 30, of New Britain faced sentencing on Thursday in Hartford Superior Court where a prosecutor and the family of the victim, Avon High School student Liam Shields, asked for a much lengthier sentence.
“The defendant struck a 16-year-old boy with a car, purposefully drove over four miles away from the scene with him implanted in the roof of his vehicle, dragged him off the roof of the car and left him to die,” Attorney Keith Trantolo told The Courant. “Those facts are incomprehensible to any parent. A young man’s life has been disrupted and forever altered because of Mr. Rivera’s despicable actions that night. Unfortunately, my client will continue to suffer the consequences.”
Rivera’s prison sentence will be followed by three years of probation, according to court records. While on probation, a violation would expose him to as many as 10 additional years behind bars.
According to Trantolo, the prosecutor wanted Rivera sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“While the Shields accept the court’s decision today, due to the egregious nature of the defendant’s conduct and the severity of the permanent injuries sustained in this case, we believe a sentence in the range of the state attorneys office’s recommendation would have been more appropriate,” Trantolo said. “The Shields are thankful and appreciative for State Prosecutor Samantha Magnani’s dedication to seeking justice for their son in this horrifying case.”
Rivera’s sentencing came after he previously took a plea bargain, pleading guilty to first-degree assault with extreme indifference to life, risk of injury to a minor and evading responsibility involving serious physical injury, court records show.
Following the crash on Oct. 4, 2024, Shields was left in serious but stable condition with three brain bleeds and a severely fractured leg, according to the incident report filed by the Avon Police Department.
Police first learned of the crash as they were investigating a report of debris found in the roadway on Arch Road that came in shortly after 9:15 p.m. Officers then spoke to two motorists, including one who said he was driving when he spotted a bike in the middle of the road and swerved to avoid hitting it. The man pulled over and tried to wave down another motorist who ran over the bike before also pulling over, according to the report.
Police found the damaged bike along with candy, pieces of plastic and a shattered headlight in the road, the report said. Police immediately suspected a biker had been hit but they searched the area and could not find a victim.
Officers found a cell phone at the scene and were able to call an emergency contact, who turned out to be one of Shield’s parents. Shortly thereafter, police received the report of a hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian on Harris Road, which was just over four miles away from where the bike was found, the report said.
Officers who responded to Harris Road spoke to a man who said he was driving when he spotted the driver of a Subaru Forester pull over on the side of the road and throw something off of his roof before driving away, according to the report. The Subaru had damage to its windshield and headlight, the report said.
The witness was able to get the vehicle’s license plate information before the Subaru driver got onto Route 4, according to the report. The man said he returned to Harris Road and found a boy seriously injured in a driveway, the report said. The teen was taken to Hartford Hospital and later identified as Shields.
As police continued to investigate they learned that the Subaru was registered to a Farmington woman. Shortly thereafter, authorities received a call from Rivera who said he was involved in the crash, the report said.
Police met Rivera at the home of the vehicle’s owner and found that the Subaru had damage to its front driver’s side headlight, fender and hood, police wrote in the report. They also saw blood on the right side of the vehicle and a pool of blood on the roof, the report said.
Rivera, who had a towel wrapped around scratches and lacerations to his hand, told police he was driving when an individual came out of nowhere and hit the car, the report said. He said he assumed the person rolled off the vehicle so he kept going, according to the report.
When Rivera realized the victim was still on top of the car, he reportedly told officers he “freaked out” and pushed him off the roof before calling police, the report said. Two juveniles were in the vehicle at the time. One of them told police she had gotten glass all over her and was “a little traumatized” because she could see someone’s leg on top of the car while they were driving, according to the report.
The owner of the vehicle reportedly told police she told Rivera to stop after the collision, but he was worried he would go to jail and said he “couldn’t lose his daughter,” police noted in their report. The woman said they continued driving until she noticed a foot hanging near Rivera’s window. The woman said she covered the children’s eyes as Rivera pulled over and pushed the individual off the car, according to the report.
Shields spent several weeks in the hospital and has since returned to school. He is able to walk and talk again, but can no longer play soccer, a sport he loves. He faces the possibility of more medical challenges going forward, his family told a judge.
A GoFundMe started to raise money for the family generated a little more than $85,000 in donations.