Crime & Safety
2nd UPDATE One-Car Accident Wednesday Night Was Fatal
The roof had to be removed to extricate the passengers.
A car veered off Route 116 shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night and hit a tree.
Read more at the Ridgefield Press: Crash causes serious injuries; police seek information
UPDATE on Nov. 28, 11 a.m.: The car's driver, a 19-year old male, was pronounced dead early Friday morning at Danbury Hospital. The passenger has been discharged.
Find out what's happening in Ridgefieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Read more at the News-Times: Teen dies after car strikes tree
Fire chief Heather Burford confirmed to Patch on Saturday morning that the accident was a fatal and that the victim was a Ridgefield resident.
Find out what's happening in Ridgefieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Police declined to identify the victim on Saturday morning, but police spokesman Capt. Cliff Scharf said the department expects to release more information after a meeting with the accident reconstruction team this afternoon.
Update II, Nov. 28, 3:45 p.m.:
The police have identified the victim as Brandon von Koschembahr, 19, of 28 Ridgecrest Dr. He was driving faster than the 35 mile per hour speed limit posted on North Salem Road.
Just north of the south entrance to Tackora Trail, the 2007 Lincoln MKZ, driving south, went off the road's right shoulder and struck a tree, trapping von Koschembahr in the car, police said in a press release on Saturday afternoon.
Von Koschembahr passenger, Michelle DeCata, 19, of 140 Barry Ave., was able to exit the car at the scene unassisted.
Von Koschembahr was a 2008 graduate of Ridgefield High School and a student at Western Connecticut State University, according to his Facebook page. His family started a Facebook page in memory of their son. It says there that the family will be holding a private funeral but a public memorial somewhere around Christmastime.
His family writes on the memorial page, which already has about 1,230 members: "[P]lease share your favorite memory of Brandon, and a favorite photo or two. Not only will we cherish each one but I truly believe that by sharing how he touched each of us and focusing on the positive effect someone can have on another person that we each reflect on what we might do differently, tomorrow."
