Southington — In a twist of fate, Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier was working to prevent deaths on state roads when officials say he was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver Thursday.
Pelletier, 34, was driving east on Interstate 84 in Southington, looking for traffic violators through a High Visibility Motor Vehicle Enforcement grant to reduce deadly crashes when he spotted someone who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, state police said. He pulled the person over and was outside of his patrol car, talking to the driver, when a red pickup sideswiped his cruiser and struck him, police said. His police dog, Roso, was in the vehicle but was not injured, police said.
"What is so tragic about this day, and losing him, is that his life was lost while he was conducting a routine traffic stop, to try to stop speeding, to try to make our roads safer, to try to keep the public safe by making sure everyone who is driving is wearing their seatbelt," Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said at a news conference Thursday night.
Pelletier was with the Connecticut State Police nine years. He is survived by a wife and two sons.
Alex Oyola-Sanchez, 44, of Zion Street in Hartford, has been charged in the fatal hit-and-run crash, state police said Friday. Oyola-Sanchez was charged with second-degree manslaughter and seven other charges, including illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and evading, police said. He admitted to doing drugs earlier in the day, they said.
The danger of the job never stopped Pelletier, and neither did the status of the drivers he pulled over. When Bysiewicz and her assigned state trooper went through a checkpoint in the Wallingford area two weeks ago, it was Pelletier who made her and the trooper lower their car windows to be sure they were wearing their seatbelts, Bysiewicz said.
"He actually stopped me, and my state trooper, (Abigail) Belcher, because he couldn't see in our smoked windows and he wanted to know if we were wearing our seatbelts," she said.
Pelletier recognized the state trooper, "smiled, and waved us on," Bysiewicz later said. "Others on the detail later laughed because "they knew he was very dedicated and that he'd stop the lieutenant governor just to make sure she was wearing her seatbelt."
Bysiewicz's partner at the top of state government, Gov. Ned Lamont, directed that U.S. and state flags be lowered to half-staff in Pelletier's honor.
"This is devastating news and a tragic reminder about the dangers law enforcement face every day when they leave their homes and go to work," Lamont said.
Friday afternoon, hundreds of first responders escorted Pelletier's body or lined the streets and highway overpasses during a solemn procession from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington to Della Vecchia Funeral Home, 211 North Main St. in Southington — the town where Pelletier lived.
Among those who took part were members of the K-9 Unit at the state Department of Correction, where Pelletier used to work. He was a correctional officer before he joined the state police in June 2015: Pelletier was hired in June 2013 as a CO assigned to the Hartford Correctional Center, said Andrius Banevicius, a DOC spokesperson.
"The tragic loss of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier hits especially close to home as he was one of our agency's correction officers prior to joining the ranks of the State Police," said Department of Correction Commissioner Angel Quiros. "Trooper Pelletier's death serves as a reminder of the selfless sacrifice made each day by every member of the law enforcement community."
Before that, Pelletier was at Central Connecticut State University studying criminology and business, the university said, adding that he was an "outstanding student." He graduated in 2011.
"We send our deepest condolences to the Pelletier family and to the Connecticut State Police force," Central President Zulma R. Toro said. "Graduates like TFC Pelletier go out into the world and excel in their field of study. By all accounts his dedication to public service and community safety was unmatched."
Once he became a state trooper, Pelletier mostly worked at the Troop H barracks in Hartford, Sgt. Luke Davis said. He also was a member of the Tactical Team with the Connecticut State Police Emergency Services Unit and was among the troopers commended for rescuing a woman who police said was being held hostage by an armed man on April 14, 2022.
In addition, Pelletier was hand-picked to work on a federal task force for a few years, former Col. Stavros Mellekas said, after which he switched gears and became a police dog handler.
"It's not easy to take on this responsibility as a canine handler," Byciewicz said at the news conference. "But Trooper First Class Pelletier did it with incredible commitment, and it's just another example of the selflessness and dedication that he had to his job."
Pellietier, who himself had been involved in two crashes while on the job during his career, one in 2016 and one last year, was well aware of the hazards of being on the road day in and day out. In a crash that bore an eerie resemblance to what happened Thursday, on May 6, 2023, a car drove through flares and sideswiped Pelletier's patrol car, which was in the left lane of Interstate 91 in Hartford with its emergency lights activated, according to a report. Pelletier was in the car, and his injuries appeared minor.
There is plenty of other evidence of the danger troopers face, when on the highway in particular.
On March 31, 2023, that a state trooper's patrol car — with its emergency lights activated — was struck by an allegedly impaired driver on Interstate 95 in East Haven. That trooper also was out of the police car and talking to the driver, whose car had run out of gas. Like Thursday, the cruiser and car were in the far right lane.
In that case, the oncoming car struck the cruiser, which then hit the disabled car. No one was injured.
Fewer than 24 hours earlier, another state trooper's car was struck at the scene of a crash on Interstate 84 in Waterbury. A tractor trailer struck one of the crashed vehicles, and a woman who was standing in the right shoulder sustained minor injuries. Another vehicle then struck the trooper's unoccupied cruiser.
Byciewicz said she, too, has seen the bad driving on the state's highways when traveling for her job, and she pleaded with the driving public to do better.
"The governor and I ask today that anyone who drives on a road, please drive at the speed limit, please be vigilant, especially when you see road work happening, especially when you see law enforcement officers doing their job out on the road. Please don't drive fast. Don't drive under the influence. It will keep all of us safe."
