An Update on Officer Picagli and Judge Walker

Today’s papers offer the latest news about Officer Dan Picagli, the New Haven police officer who was accidentally hit by a motorist earlier this week, and Second Circuit Judge John M. Walker, the motorist in question. Officer Picagli remains hospitalized and in critical condition.
The New York Times finally has a brief story on the incident. But the Hartford Courant offers a more detailed account (including some information not contained in prior news stories):

A few blocks from the intensive-care unit where Picagli is being treated for a severe head injury, John M. Walker Jr., a 65-year-old judge, met with investigators at police headquarters to go through a second round of questioning — this time with his lawyer.

The judge was on his way home to Madison in a black Ford Escape when his vehicle struck Picagli while the off-duty cop was directing traffic around a construction site on Wooster Square Park. Chapel Street had been closed to one lane of traffic and as Walker passed through, headed east, at least one driver waiting to go the other way witnessed the crash, police said.

The street was dark but the officer was wearing a fluorescent yellow vest over a long rain coat… “He was clearly seen by other motorists at the time of the accident,” [New Haven] Mayor John DeStefano Jr. said Thursday.

Police have ruled out drugs and alcohol as a cause of the crash, but said they will look at other factors, including speed, in their investigation. The posted speed limit in the area is 25 mph.

Further Update: Officer Dan Picagli, R.I.P.
Vigil Over Injured Comrade [Hartford Courant via How Appealing]
Officer Is Struck by S.U.V. Driven by a Federal Judge, the Police Say [New York Times]
Earlier: More on Judge John Walker
Judge John M. Walker Hits Police Officer in Traffic Accident

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