Mansfield Man Killed in Wrong-Way Crash on Route 15 in Meriden

Two people are dead and two others were hospitalized following a head-on collision on a highway in Meriden early Wednesday morning.

According to a state police press release, Michael Heeks, 22, of 96 Cedar Swamp Road in Mansfield, was driving northbound in the southbound lane of Route 15.

Around 2:10 a.m., Heeks collided with Patrick Cimato, 37, of 36 Faith St., Lisbon Falls, ME, just north of the Exit 66 off-ramp. Cimato was driving the proper direction in the southbound lane.

Both Heeks and Cimato suffered fatal injuries and died in the accident, police said.

Two occupants in Cimato’s car, Nicholas Cimato, 47, of New York City, and Ashley Robinson, 30, of Brooklyn, NY, were taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for unknown injuries.

The Record-Journal newspaper reported that both of the passengers were in critical condition at the hospital.

Cimato’s 2004 Hyundai Elantra wound up on the right-hand shoulder of the highway, while Heeks’ 2011 Honda Accord wound up in the center median of Route 15, police said.

Anyone that witnessed the accident is asked to contact the Troop I barracks in Bethany at 203-393-4200.