The last thing Devan Nolet’s people expected that Friday was a phone call that would shatter everything. The 30-year-old Mansfield man was out on his Suzuki GSX-R750 — just another ride on a warm May evening — when, in a matter of seconds, everything changed. By the time the sun went down on Route 32 in Windham, Connecticut, Devan was gone, and an entire community was left picking up the pieces.
It was around 5:50 in the evening on May 15, 2026, right in front of Apollo Pizza — a spot locals pass every single day without a second thought. Troopers from Troop K and Windham EMS rushed to the scene after reports came in of a serious crash involving a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle. What they found when they arrived was devastating.
Devan was riding southbound on Route 32 when an 83-year-old driver, Pedro Johnson of North Windham, pulled his Ford Explorer into a left turn across oncoming traffic, heading into a commercial driveway. There was no time to react. Devan’s motorcycle slammed into the right front end of that Explorer, and the impact threw him clean off the bike. He struck a utility pole. It’s the kind of moment that happens so fast, and yet it changes everything forever.
Emergency crews were on him quickly. They rushed Devan over to Windham Hospital, where medical staff fought hard to save his life. His injuries were described as life-threatening from the jump, and despite everything the doctors and nurses threw at it, Devan didn’t make it. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Thirty years old. Gone on a Friday evening over something that took barely a second to unfold.
Meanwhile, after the initial collision, Johnson’s Ford Explorer kept rolling forward and clipped the rear end of a parked vehicle nearby. No one else was seriously hurt in the crash — but for Devan’s family and friends, that detail barely registers. Their world had already been turned upside down.
The crash is still under active investigation. Police are taking a close look at the full circumstances of what went down on that stretch of Route 32, and they’re not closing the book on it anytime soon. Authorities haven’t announced any charges yet, but with an ongoing review like this, those answers may still be coming.
For now, the people who loved Devan Nolet are leaning on each other and trying to make sense of a loss that came out of nowhere. He was someone who had a presence — the kind of person who left a mark on the people around him. His laugh, his energy, the little everyday moments he shared with the folks closest to him — all of it is what people are holding onto right now. There’s a void where he used to be, and for those who knew him, that’s not something time fixes overnight. Devan deserved more Fridays than he got.
