Lawyer: Off-duty Windsor Locks cop at bar before crash

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (AP) - The lawyer for a Windsor Locks police officer says his client had been drinking at a bar before his car struck and killed a teenage bicyclist last month.

But the attorney, Elliot Spector, tells the Hartford Courant that Michael Koistinen was not drunk, nor was he talking on his cell phone at the time of the Oct. 29 accident that took the life of 15-year-old Henry Dang.

Koistinen, who was off-duty when the crash occurred, is on leave pending a state police investigation.

Spector also confirmed reports that officers responding to the accident did not ask Koistinen to submit to a blood alcohol test.

Spector said Koistinen's father, Windsor Locks Sgt. Robert Koistinen, was among the responding officers but did not participate in the investigation.

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Information from: The Hartford Courant