Driver Sentenced to 18 Years for Hit-and-Run that Killed Conn. Trooper

The drugged-up driver who fatally struck Connecticut Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier on Interstate 84 and then fled was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly two decades behind bars.

Alex Oyola-Sanchez, 45, pleaded guilty in February to first-degree manslaughter as part of a plea deal that will see him serve 18 years in prison for the trooper’s death, WTNH reported.

Pelletier was conducting a routine traffic when the deadly hit-and-run occurred on May 30, 2024. Pelletier had stopped a car on Interstate 84 East in Southington and was standing outside of his cruiser when Oyola-Sanchez’s pickup truck swerved onto the shoulder. Authorities said his vehicle initially struck the police cruiser, and then Pelletier, who’d been talking to the driver he’d just pulled over.

Pelletier, a member of the 125th Training Troop, had been with the state police for nine years. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Police said Oyola-Sanchez continued driving, stopping only after his tire blew on I-84 East in Farmington, where he was taken into custody a short time later.

In a subsequent interview with investigators, the driver allegedly confessed to taking fentanyl, cocaine and what he believed was Klonopin before the deadly crash. He initially faced charges including operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol and evading responsibility as well as manslaughter before reaching an agreement with prosecutors.

Pelletier’s wife, Dominique, previously requested Oyola-Sanchez get 30 years in prison for her husband’s death, arguing that 18 years was not enough, WTNH reported.

“Will he be let out again to kill another person and cause more pain? Will I have to reopen these wounds again when he is up for parole?” she asked. “This man had no remorse for what he had just done. He fled the scene with the intent of getting away, leaving my husband lying on the highway, lifeless.”

The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 20 years in prison.

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