HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A 20-year-old Connecticut man was sentenced to 16 years in prison Friday for causing a car crash that killed a Hartford police officer and seriously wounded the officer's partner after fleeing a traffic stop.
Richard Barrington, who was an 18-year-old high school junior at the time of the 2023 crash, apologized for the fatal accident in Hartford Superior Court as relatives of the officers looked on.
Officer Robert “Bobby” Garten, 34, an eight-year Hartford police veteran whose father retired as a detective on the force, died from his injuries. Garten’s partner, Officer Brian Kearney, who was driving their cruiser, was seriously injured.
Authorities said Barrington fled a traffic stop conducted by other officers, drove through two red lights and smashed into the passenger side of Garten and Kearney's cruiser, which was responding to an unrelated emergency call on Sept. 6, 2023.
“I want to apologize for all the days, months, and years of pain and grief that I’ve caused and are currently causing,” Barrington said in court. “No mother, father, sibling, kid, or friend should have to endure the pain and grief you are enduring.”
Barrington pleaded guilty in April to manslaughter, first-degree assault and interfering with a police officer.
Garten's family said they wanted Barrington to serve more than 40 years in prison,
“This is it, this is what Mr. Barrington gets for killing my brother?” William Garten told members of the media after the sentencing. “That’s the end of this kind of story, and we’ll have to continue to honor Bobby in some other way because today we let him down.”
1. A memorial service for Garten drew police officers from across the region.
FILE - This undated photo provided by the Hartford, Conn., Police Department, shows Officer Robert "Bobby" Garten, 34, an eight-year veteran of Hartford police. (Hartford Police Department via AP, File)
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that the military has used the new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in a strike on Ukraine.
The ministry said the attack was a retaliation to what Moscow said was a Ukrainian drone strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month. Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected the Russian claim of the attack on Putin’s residence.
The ministry said the latest strike also involved other ground- and sea-launched missiles to target Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and missiles, killing four and injuring at least 22 in the capital overnight into Friday, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia also struck critical infrastructure in the western city of Lviv using an unidentified ballistic missile, said Mayor Andriy Sadoviy. The Western Command of Ukraine's Air Force later said the missile traveled at a speed of 13,000 kilometers (more than 8,000 miles) per hour, and that the specific type of rocket was being investigated.
Among the dead was an emergency medical aid worker, said Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Five rescue workers sustained injuries while responding to the site of ongoing attacks, said Ukraine's security service.
Several districts in Kyiv were hit in the attack, said Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. In the Desnyanskyi district a drone crashed onto the roof of a multi-story building. At another address in the same district the first two floors of a residential building were damaged as a result of the attack.
In Dnipro district, parts of a drone damaged a multi-story building and a fire broke out.
Running water and electricity were disrupted in parts of the capital as a result of the attack, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The attack took place just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alerted the nation about Russia’s intentions for a large-scale offensive. He said that Russia aimed to take advantage of the frigid weather in the capital, making roads and streets perilously icy.
A residential building is seen damaged after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Rescue workers put out a fire at a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Rescue workers put out a fire at a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A residential building burns after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
