The woman who crashed into Dr. Wayne Levasseur's optometry office last New Year's Eve was intoxicated and speeding in excess of 80 miles per hour after "trying to run [her old boss] off the road," court documents allege.
According to an affidavit obtained in court, Jenny Benvenuto, who recovered after having sustained serious injuries in the accident, traveled to the Riverside 159 Bar on Palisado Avenue to speak with the bar's owners about getting her job back.
Unsuccessful in her attempt, Benvenuto tailgated her former bosses on Palisado Avenue before speeding down the road south toward Broad Street, police say.
According to police, the 35-year-old passed several officers with her lights off and at a high rate of speed.
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Windsor police officers pursued her vehicle, a tan Chevy Impala, but were unable to catch up with her, court documents say.
Court documents reveal police approached the intersection of Palisado Avenue and Broad Street and saw Benvenuto's vehicle "had struck a tree, light pole, and the building of 186 Broad Street, Dr. Levesseur's office..."
According to police, Benvenuto "suffered a hole in her heart" in the accident that caused $43,000 in damage to the doctor's office, and she had to have her spleen removed.
She was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, according to police.
At the scene of the crash, police identified Benvenuto's car as having plates reported to be stolen hours before the accident.
Toxicology results found her blood alcohol content level to be 0.141 at the time of the accident — over the legal limit of .08.
Benvenuto was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, failure to drive in the established lane, failure to wear a seat belt, failure to keep reasonable distance from another vehicle, operating a vehicle with insufficient insurance coverage, reckless driving, misuse of a registration place, breach of peach and theft of a registration plate.
She's also currently facing charges of third-degree assault, second-degree threatening and second-degree breach of peace in Enfield, and a violation of probation for alleged second-degree larceny.
According to court documents, Benvenuto has been arrested 21 times since 1998, including convictions of driving under the influence, breach of peace, third-degree assault, sixth-degree larceny, fifth-degree larceny, fourth-degree larceny, third-degree larceny and first-degree larceny.
She was also the passenger in a vehicle that struck and killed Connecticut State Trooper First Class Kenneth Hall on the shoulder of Interstate 91 in 2010.
She is due to make a pre-trial appearance in court on December 11.
