Unlicensed Crane Operator Charged With Reckless Endangerment

An unlicensed Tolland crane operator was charged Wednesday with reckless endangerment after State Police say he was operating an unregistered crane at a Country Club Road construction site.

On Dec. 28 at 10 a.m.m the Connecticut State Police Fire Explosive Investigation Unit was requested to assist the state crane inspector at a crane inspection at the corner of Country Club Road and Middle Street in Middletown, police say. The construction site is a road construction project where a crane was being used to set concrete structures. 

Inspector Elliot Henowitz found the unregistered crane violated safety and equipment codes. State Police Detective Richard Cop's criminal investigation found operator Mark Auclair, 50, of Sugar Hill Road, Tolland, was not licensed to operate a crane.

There were no injuries, however, workers were discovered within close proximity of the safety violations.

Auclair was arrested for second-degree reckless endangerment, operation of a crane without a license, and operating an unregistered crane, the report says. 

He was released on a $5,000 with an Jan. 10 court date in Middletown Superior Court.