25-year-old restaurant employees killed walking home from work in Stamford
STAMFORD, Connecticut (WABC) -- Authorities are investigating after two restaurant workers were struck and killed in Stamford over the weekend.
On Monday it was a sad and somber day inside La Cantina Mexicana. A memorial of flowers, candles and pictures was set up dedicated to Giovanni Vega Benis and Yuliana Arias Lozano.
The two 25-year-old restaurant workers were killed while they walked home together.
"It is very unfortunate," co-worker and friend Edison Hidalgo told Eyewitness News in Spanish. "It will be very traumatic to come here each day and not see them, knowing they were the ones who supported us, who played with us, who helped us."
The crash happened just after 2 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Main Street.
Flowers now sit in the colorful sign welcoming people to Stamford.
Police say the two victims were in the crosswalk when the driver of a 2022 Mercedes hit them with such impact that they flew from the southbound lanes to the northbound lanes.
"I am not going to release the distance, but they were thrown a significant distance, yes," said Stamford Police Department Sgt. Jeff Booth. "It suggests that the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed."
In that part of the city, the speed limit is 25 mph.
Police identified the driver as 24-year-old Michael Talbot of Greenwich.
Authorities say he abandoned his car and hid behind a dumpster before police found him.
Talbot has not yet been arrested or charged.
"These investigations are very involved, very technical," Booth said. "It's not just a car crash at this point. We have two fatalities. There is a lot of stuff that goes into it. We have to do multiple search warrants, an arrest want. We have to wait for results from the ME's office, the state laboratory before we can have lock-down charges."
Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad at (203) 977-4712.
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