Prom-Goers Help Nab Alleged Drunken Driver

Fairfield Warde High School students who just left a prom helped police capture a drunken driver after their SUV was struck on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield late Saturday, firefighters and police said today.

Police said Carly Fortuna, 20, of West Beach Drive in Stratford, struck a Ford Explorer by the corner of Black Rock Turnpike and Jennings Road and that students followed Fortuna's Hyundai after the crash for a short distance before Fortuna crashed into a wooden fence and stone wall in the 900 block of Black Rock Turnpike.

"The Ford Explorer had students from Warde's prom in the vehicle when it was hit," said Assistant Fire Chief Christopher Tracy, adding that students reported that the Hyundai "tried to flee the scene and they chased it and blocked it in."

Tracy said the students remarked to Assistant Fire Chief Scott Bisson, the incident commander, that it was ironic they had watched a mock DUI crash in front of Warde High only a week earlier and the scenario was being played out in front of them, Tracy said.

Neither the students nor Fortuna were injured in the 11:15 p.m. accident, firefighters said.

Fortuna was charged with driving under the influence and evading responsibility and was released on $250 bond, pending a June 15 appearance in Bridgeport Superior Court. She also was given a written warning for alcohol in a motor vehicle by a minor, police said.

Police said Fortuna's blood alcohol content, at .067 and .064, was under the legal limit, but, because she was under the legal drinking age of 21, she was charged with driving under the influence.