By Matt Clyburn

The driver that struck a pedestrian near the CCSU campus early Thursday morning has been charged with driving under the influence, according a press release from the New Britain Police Department.

Jessica Parr, 23, of Canton, was driving her Volkswagen Jetta westbound on Paul J. Manafort Drive at 1:05 a.m. Thursday when she hit 23 year old Kimberly Tyrseck of Portland, who was crossing the street.

Tyrseck was taken to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center with critical injuries.

Sergeant Jeanette Saccente said this is Parr’s second drunk driving arrest and that the NBPD Traffic Division is continuing to investigate.  More charges against the driver could be filed once the investigation has reached a conclusion, but are pending at this time.

Ken Cook, owner of Elmer’s Place and Great Oaks Restaurant, told The Recorder in two interviews that Parr was an employee of Elmer’s at the time of the collision. Cook said that Parr is a bartender but had not been drinking at the bar before the incident. Cook also told The Recorder that Parr was let go from her position this weekend.

Cook said that Parr wanted to present a mugshot that conveyed normalcy because she isn’t a “drug addict” or “creepy.”

“It’s hard to see it. For days they kept on putting her mugshot up there and it made it look even worse with her smiling,” Cook said.

Neither Parr nor Tyrseck are registered CCSU students, according to university spokesman Mark McLaughlin.

“The report did indicate that the student who was injured was a CCSU commuter student, but she is not registered and never has taken a class here,” said McLaughlin. “They’re very cautious because they don’t want to compromise an investigation in process.”