WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A car fire in a Connecticut shopping center parking lot that killed a man earlier this month was an accident, police said Tuesday.
Police in West Hartford also released the man’s name: Stephen Pelletier, 66, of Hartford. Police did not release details of why the fire was ruled an accident, including how it started.
Town Fire Marshal Michael Sinsigalli, however, said Tuesday that the fire remains under investigation and the cause and manner of the fire have not been officially determined. He said investigators are still waiting for toxicology results.
A police officer discovered the car fully engulfed in flames at about 4 a.m. on Feb. 3 in a parking lot of a strip mall. The officer broke a window to see if anyone was inside but could not enter the vehicle because of the fire. Pelletier was found dead in the driver’s seat after firefighters put out the blaze, police said.
Pelletier died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, the medical examiner’s office said.
Pelletier grew up in East Granby, worked for many years as an auto mechanic and bought and sold numerous properties in the Hartford area over the years, according to an obituary in The Hartford Courant.
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