West Hartford Police have identified the individual struck on South Main Street on June 7, and said that the 44-year-old Plainville man later died due to his injuries.

By Ronni Newton

A pedestrian who was the victim of a hit and run incident on South Main Street in the early morning hours of June 7, 2025 has died as a result of the extensive injuries he sustained, West Hartford Police said.

In an email on June 16, Assistant Chief Larry Terra identified the victim as John Marczak, 44, of Plainville. West Hartford Police were notified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner that Marczak died at 4:50 a.m. on June 10.

Police initially said that a passerby found a pedestrian, now identified as Marczak, unresponsive in the roadway near 202 South Main Street at 2:04 a.m. on Saturday, June 7. The victim was immediately treated at the scene for injuries that were described as “serious,” and transported to an area hospital.

Police found evidence of motor vehicle involvement in the incident, but the “offending vehicle” was not at the scene, they said.

The incident was investigated by the West Hartford Police Accident Reconstruction Team. Police were able to obtain surveillance footage and located the suspect vehicle and driver, who was arrested later on Saturday, June 7 via warrant, Capt. Aaron Vafiades said.

Juan Pablo Novoa, 22, of Cromwell, has been charged with evading responsibility with serious physical injury, windshield, obstructing view, and tampering with physical evidence. According to online court records, he was released from custody after posting $500,000 surety bond and is scheduled to enter a plea in Hartford Superior Court on July 14.

According to his obituary, Marczak, who had previously been a Newington resident, was a graduate of the Fox Institute and had been working as a senior full stack software developer. He is survived by his daughters, Ariana and Giana Marczak; his mother Julia LaFlamme; sisters Tamara LaFlamme, and Kathleen Conniff and her husband Chris; as well as aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

The June 7 incident remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to contact West Hartford Police at 860-523-5203 or via the anonymous tip line 860-570-8969 or email [email protected].

What is now West Hartford’s second fatal crash of 2025 involving a pedestrian came just days after a fatal crash occurred just over a mile away, near the intersection of South Main Street and New Britain Avenue. On Wednesday, June 4, a vigil was held at that intersection to memorialize the life of Stephen Mendelsohn, 63, of New Britain, who was fatally struck on June 1.

Three pedestrians were killed as a result of motor vehicle incidents in West Hartford in 2024 – two in November and one in January. The town is currently working on dozens of measures to improve road safety for all users, including quick build and long-term projects, as part of its Vision Zero Action Plan which has the ultimate goal of completely eliminating fatalities and severe injuries within a 10-year period, by 2033.

Earlier this year the Town Council received its first Vision Zero Annual Report.

Plans to convene a Vision Zero task force were announced on Christmas Day in 2022, just hours after a two-car crash on Simsbury Road at 6:49 a.m. resulted in the death of three occupants of the vehicles despite lifesaving efforts by emergency responders. In just over a week during December 2022, a total of five people had lost their lives as a result of several unrelated motor vehicle collisions in West Hartford, and another person was seriously injured. An incident in June 2022 had resulted in the death of a pedestrian in West Hartford Center, bringing the total number of traffic fatalities in West Hartford for 2022 to six.

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