One of the founders of New Britain’s Alvarium Beer Co. was sent to prison for four and one-half years Thursday for a fatal hit-and-run accident and his effort to conceal his responsibility.
Superior Court Judge Michael Gustafson sentenced Michael Larson, 41, to 12 years in prison, suspended after 4 ½, after his guilty plea earlier to charges of evading responsibility and forgery.
Larson was apprehended and arrested after a months-long investigation which tied him to the late night accident that killed 30-year old Anthony Williams of Hartford at the intersection of Farmington Avenue and Gillett Street in April 2023.
Larson, one of founders and a former owner of the New Britain brewery and tap room was driving after spending time at an event downtown sponsored by the Connecticut Brewers Guild.
It was five months before Hartford detectives charged Larson. When confronted by police, he produced a bill of sale and claimed to have sold his automobile the day before the fatal accident. Police later determined the bill of sale was a forgery and the ostensible buyer didn’t exist.
William’s family appeared in court at the sentencing with their lawyer, Jon Schoenhorn, and are suing Larson, his business partners and the brewery.
“The family feels that justice was done,” Schoenhorn said.