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State trooper faces DUI accusations after car accident

Typically, people view law enforcement officers in their community as being there to serve and protect. It is presumed that those officers will be on the right side of the law, helping to keep others from danger — not creating it. That makes a recent incident of a police officer allegedly driving under the influence and causing a car accident all the more shocking.

The Connecticut state trooper had been driving his police cruiser while allegedly under the influence of alcohol when he slammed into an oncoming truck. The trooper, 42, was immediately stripped of his police powers because of the incident. He was also charged with drunk driving.

The collision occurred in Ellington. The trooper had been driving on Sandy Beach Road, going westbound, when he crossed into an eastbound lane. At that point, his 2013 Ford Interceptor police cruiser hit the truck, a Dodge Ram.

The police cruiser flipped over onto it’s roof. The damage to it was extensive. According to police documents, it’s status is officially “totaled”. The amount of damage to the Dodge Ram has not been reported. The driver was uninjured, and the passenger, a woman, was treated for non-life threatening injuries at Johnson Memorial Hospital and released.

The trooper was off-duty at the time. Like the passenger of the truck he slammed into, he was treated for non-life threatening injuries and then released. He has been charged with a DWI and sensibly enough in view of the circumstances of the crash, failure to drive right.

After being charged, the trooper’s release from custody was secured with a $500 no-surety bond. He has a scheduled appearance in the matter on August 25 in Rockville Superior Court. The driver of the truck and his passenger may want to explore their legal options with the assistance of a qualified attorney.

Source: FoxCT.com, “State Trooper Accused of DUI Totaled Police Car in Crash” DAVID LEGNANI, Aug. 16, 2014

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