Inset left: Bridgeport Police Officer Cooper Whiteside (State Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan). Inset middle: Melissa Ramirez (Danbury Police Department). Inset right: Brittany Anne Islami (Obituary). Background: A section of Sugar Hollow Road in Danbury, Connecticut (Google Maps).
A woman in Connecticut was thrown behind bars after authorities say she rammed her Jeep into an off-duty cop and his girlfriend, killing them both.
Melissa Ramirez, 27, has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle in the deaths of 38-year-old Bridgeport Police Officer Cooper Whiteside and 34-year-old Brittany Anne Islami. The defendant was also charged with illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs/alcohol, traveling unreasonably fast, and failure to drive in the proper lane, the Danbury Police Department announced on Friday.
Ramirez was jailed on a $500,000 bond.
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On July 13, Whiteside and Islami were riding on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on Sugar Hollow Road in Danbury. The city is located about 65 miles north of Manhattan, New York.
At about 2:45 a.m., Ramirez was driving her jeep when she allegedly smashed into the motorcycle. The two victims were pronounced dead at the scene, regional ABC affiliate WTNH reported.
Ramirez’s Jeep had extensive front-end damage, News 12 Long Island added, citing police. Authorities also said that the defendant had to be removed from the vehicle and was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
Islami worked as a caretaker and personal assistant, according to her obituary. She had three children — ages 12, 10, and 7 — and “was always the life of the party and lit up every room she walked into. She was so special, in a way that only people who truly knew her would understand.”
Whiteside “dreamed of becoming a police officer” from a young age, his own memorial states. “He was a musician (a skilled violinist and piano player), an outdoor enthusiast, certified rescue diver, a handy-man and an epic jokester.”
“After only 2 years on the force, Cooper had made of himself an officer of distinction, never wavering in his purpose to serve and protect with integrity, humility, and compassion,” his obituary adds.
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