Impaired driver who struck and killed a Connecticut trooper is sentenced
to 18 years
[April 30, 2025]
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) — A man who was high on drugs when he
struck and killed a Connecticut state trooper on a highway last year was
sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison, punishment not considered long
enough by the trooper's widow.
Alex Oyola-Sanchez, 45, of Hartford, apologized and asked for
forgiveness from the family of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier
during a hearing at New Britain Superior Court. State troopers and
Pelletier's relatives and friends filled the courtroom. |
Alex Oyola-Sanchez, center, with his public defender Chris Eddy, right,
and a Spanish interpreter during Oyola-Sanchez's sentencing at state
Superior Court in New Britain, Conn., April 29, 2025. (Jim
Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP) |
|
Pelletier's widow, Dominique Pelletier, had called for a 30-year
prison sentence. Their two sons were 3 and 5 years old when
their father was killed.
The 18-year prison term was agreed to by the defense and
prosecution when Oyola-Sanchez pleaded guilty to first-degree
manslaughter in February.
Pelletier, a nine-year veteran of the state police, was working
overtime on a traffic enforcement detail on May 30, 2024, when
he pulled over a driver for not wearing a seat belt on
Interstate 84 in Southington. As he was talking to the driver, a
pickup truck entered the right shoulder and struck Pelletier,
his cruiser and the stopped vehicle before driving off.
Oyola-Sanchez was arrested several towns away on I-84 and
charged with manslaughter, operating under the influence of
alcohol or drugs and several other crimes. According to police,
he later told investigators that he snorted fentanyl and cocaine
earlier that day.
Oyola-Sanchez had previous convictions in his native Puerto Rico
for third-degree murder and three counts of attempted homicide,
according to a state bail commissioner.
Pelletier, a Southington native, was the 26th Connecticut
trooper to die in the line of duty since the agency was founded
in 1903.
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