WATERBURY – A 74-year-old Middlebury man who holds patents for a variety of tires was issued a ticket Tuesday after police say he turned in front of a minivan, wrecking the exotic sports car he was driving.
George Nybakken, of Middlebury, was cited for failing to yield while turning left after the collision between the 2005 Lotus Elise he was driving and a Toyota minivan.
Police say that Nybakken was driving north on North Main Street at about 9:45 a.m. when surveillance footage showed him failing to slow down or stop as he tried to make a left turn onto Cooke Street.
The minivan was driving south on North Main Street at the time and smashed into the passenger side of the Lotus, pushing the car into a pole that supports a traffic light.
Neither driver reported injuries to police. A 25-year-old passenger in the van was taken to Bristol Hospital for observation, according to police.
Both vehicles were heavily damaged in the collision. The 190-horsepower, Elise a British-built sports car retailed for about $40,000 when it debuted in the U.S. market in 2004, according to the auto magazine, Motortrend.
Along with several other men who worked for a local chemical company, Nybakken has applied for, and been granted, patents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for tires, including a large, off-road variety used for vehicles such as tractors, trucks and excavators.
https://www.rep-am.com/local/news-local/2019/07/30/sports-car-wrecked-in-waterbury-crash/
