Fallen Connecticut K9 Officer Aaron Pelletier to Retire, Stay with Partner’s Family

Metro

By Nicholas McEntyre

The K-9 who served with the Connecticut state trooper who was killed in a hit-and-run last month is set to retire and live with his partner’s family,

Connecticut State Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier had worked alongside K-9 Roso — a German shepherd — for nearly three years before his death during a routine traffic stop on May 30, according to the Hartford Courant .

“The CSP K9 Unit is planning an imminent retirement for K9 Roso, who will remain with the Pelletier family,” Connecticut State Police said in a Facebook post Thursday.

Pelletier, 44, was working overtime as a traffic enforcement officer when he stopped a driver who was not wearing a seat belt on Interstate 84 in Southington around 2:36 p.m.

As he spoke to the driver, a pickup truck entered the right shoulder and struck Pelletier and his police cruiser and the vehicle stopped before fleeing down the road.

Pelletier was clearly dead at the scene.

Roso was in Pelletier’s car at the time of the accident, but he was not seriously injured.

Pelletier and Roso graduated together from the Connecticut State Police Academy in December 2021, the outlet reported.

Alex Oyola-Sanchez, the driver of the pickup truck, was arrested in several towns along I-84 and charged with second-degree manslaughter, operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs and several other crimes.

Oyola-Sanchez’s lawyers pleaded not guilty during a court hearing on Thursday, with the case continuing to July 2.

Following Pelletier’s death and in support of the fallen soldier, Wethersfield City Council member Rich Bailey (right) suggested the city raise the “thin blue line” flag at the above the town hall.

The flag is traditionally flown to support police officers.

The Wethersfield City Council, made up of 6 Democrats and 3 Republicans, rejected the request, saying the flag represented division and racism to some.

The council previously voted to fly the LGBTQ flag in honor of June Pride Month and ordered the flag — along with the U.S. state and Connecticut flags — to be flown at half-staff after denying the request.

Pelletier’s wife raised her own “thin blue line” flag in front of her home to honor her late husband Friday, the Post reported.

Dominique Pelletier, 34, who shared two sons with her husband, flew the flag at half-staff outside the family home in Southington, outside Hartford, even as she received threats for the symbolic gesture.

The widow tearfully paid tribute to her husband during the ceremony, saying Pelletier was not just her husband.

“You were my home. You were my heart. You were my safe place and my provider. My best friend. My secret keeper. My favorite talker,” Dominique said at the funeral last Wednesday.

“The light of our smiles will forever be dimmed and the idea of ​​a world without that laughter seems unimaginable but has already become real,” she said. “I promise to keep you alive in our home, in our hearts, and in our boys’ memories forever. “I love you and I miss you.”

With post wires