Connecticut man pleads not guilty after fatal accident involving police officer

A Hartford man who allegedly consumed 15 bags of fentanyl, cocaine and an unspecified pill before hitting and killing a state police trooper last week has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and other charges related to the crash.

According to court records, 44-year-old Alex Oyola-Sanchez pleaded not guilty during a hearing Thursday in New Britain Superior Court in connection with the death of Connecticut State Police Officer Aaron Pelletier.

He is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, failure to maintain proper lane, evading responsibility in a death, failure to renew registration, driving a motor vehicle without minimum insurance and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

CT State Police: Officer killed in hit-and-run on I-84 in Southington

Pelletier, a 34-year-old husband and father of two, was struck and killed on Interstate 84 in Southington on May 30 while conducting a traffic stop to enforce seat belt use. The officer’s death left police across the state and region mourning the loss of one of their own.

Thousands gathered at the Xfinity Theater in Hartford on Wednesday to pay their last respects to the fallen soldier before he was privately buried at St. Thomas Cemetery in Southington.

According to the police report on Oyola-Sanchez’s arrest, a witness driving behind Oyola-Sanchez told authorities she saw him swerve onto the right shoulder before hitting Pelletier. The witness could also see him looking over his shoulder as if to see what he had hit before driving away.

The woman said she called 911 and followed Oyola-Sanchez, the report said. When she caught up with Oyola-Sanchez, she yelled, “You just hit a cop,” according to the report. The woman said he yelled back, “I know” and “I have to turn around.”

Thousands of police officers mourn with their families at the funeral of CT Trooper Aaron Pelletier

The woman told authorities that Oyola-Sanchez then allegedly passed several other drivers before she saw his vehicle stop in front of Exit 37. She drove behind the vehicle and took photos of the driver, she told police.

State police arrested Oyola-Sanchez after his vehicle became disabled. According to the report, after being taken to the Troop H barracks, he said he did not mean to hit the officer and asked, “Is he OK?”

Troopers then conducted a formal interview with Oyola-Sanchez, during which he said he consumed $20 worth of fentanyl and powder cocaine around 1 a.m. and went to sleep in his vehicle because he was believed to be homeless, the report said. He allegedly woke up around 6 a.m. and “purchased a pill” from an “illegal drug dealer” for $5 before driving to Waterbury to do about two hours of cleanup work, state police wrote.

Oyola-Sanchez said he left his job and was driving on I-84 toward Hartford. When he felt a tire going to blow, he stopped, the report said. During questioning, he told police he didn’t know he had hit a police officer and said he didn’t even see his patrol car.

The first patrol car he saw pulled over after another driver on the road accused him of hitting Pelletier, the report said.

At about 3:30 p.m., a Cromwell Police Department detective, a trained drug recognition expert, arrived at Squad H just as Oyola-Sanchez was being taken to Hartford Hospital because he had volunteered to provide a blood sample, according to the report. As he was being escorted out, the Cromwell detective claimed he noticed Oyola-Sanchez exhibited signs of gait ataxia, which is described as an impairment in the ability to coordinate the movements required to walk, according to the report.

According to the report, Oyola-Sanchez walked down a flight of stairs, pressing his shoulder against the wall for balance. Once at the hospital, two additional drug recognition experts came into the room where he was taken to examine him.

State police wrote in the report that Oyola-Sanchez admitted to using drugs earlier in the morning and that his perception of time appeared to be incorrect, believing it was between 10 and 11 a.m. when it was actually just before 6:30 p.m.

Oyola-Sanchez exhibited several signs consistent with drug use when examined, including his speech, which was described as “slow, soft and raspy,” and his eyelids, which appeared “droopy,” state police wrote. His eyes were reportedly bloodshot and watery, and his balance was described as “poor” as his movements were “slow and deliberate.”

The drug experts also claimed that his body was shaking at times and that he was constantly unconscious, the report said. They also found numerous puncture marks on his arms, neck, hands, legs and feet. Ogola-Sanchez admitted to regularly taking drugs by injection, the report said.

According to the report, Oyola-Sanchez told police at the hospital that he last took drugs about 1 1/2 hours before the accident. He allegedly said he took 15 bags of fentanyl and a 40-pack of cocaine that he bought in Hartford. However, he said he did not inject the drugs, but snorted them one at a time, the report said.

Oyola-Sanchez also said he took a single pill he believed was Klonopin to “get himself back on his feet,” the report said. He claimed he had taken all of his medications before going to work in Waterbury before the accident, and when asked if he thought it was safe to drive, he told police “no,” the report said.

Oyola-Sanchez is currently being held on $1.5 million bail and is due back in court on July 2.