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 Shepard — for nearly three years before his death during a routine traffic stop on May 30, according to the Hartford Courant.
“The CSP K9 Unit anticipates an imminent retirement for K9 Roso, who will remain with the Pelletier Family,” the Connecticut State Police said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Pelletier, 44, was working overtime on the traffic enforcement detail when he pulled over a driver not wearing a seatbelt on Interstate 84 in Southington at around 2:36 p.m.
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TFC Aaron Pelletier’s K-9 Roso is heading for retirement and return to life living with his partner’s family. Connecticut State Police
As he was talking to the driver, a pickup truck entered the right shoulder and struck Pelletier, his cruiser and the stopped vehicle before fleeing down the road.
Pelletier was pronounced dead at the scene.
Roso was inside Pelletier’s cruiser at the time of the crash, but wasn’t seriously injured.
Pelletier and Roso graduated together at the Connecticut State Police Academy in December 2021, the outlet reported.
Roso will be living with Pelletier’s widow, Dominique and their two young sons. GoFundMe
Alex Oyola-Sanchez, the driver of the pickup, was arrested several towns over on I-84 and charged with second-degree manslaughter, operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs and several other crimes.
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Oyola-Sanchez’s lawyers entered a not-guilty plea during a court hearing Thursday, the case was continued to July 2.
In the wake of Pelletier’s death, and a show of support for the fallen trooper, Wethersfield town Council Member Rich Bailey (R) suggested the town raise the “thin blue line” flag over town hall.
The flag is traditionally flown to support police officers.
The Wethersfield Town Council, consisting of 6 democrats and 3 republicans, shot down the request claiming that the flag represents divisiveness and racism to some.
The council had already voted to fly the LGBTQ flag in honor of June’s Pride Month and ordered the flag — along with the American and Connecticut state flags — to be flown at half-mast after shooting down the request.
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Pelletier, 44, was working an overtime shift on the traffic enforcement detail when he pulled over a driver who was not wearing a seatbelt on Interstate 84 in Southington at around 2:36 p.m. AP
Pelletier’s wife flew her own “thin blue line” flag outside her home to honor her late husband on Friday, The Post reported.
Dominique Pelletier, 34, who shared two sons with her husband, had the flag poignantly flying half-staff outside the family’s home in Southington outside of Hartford even as she received threats for the symbolic gesture.
The widow gave a tearful tribute to her husband at the ceremony saying Pelletier wasn’t 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 gossiper,” Dominique said at the funeral last Wednesday.
Pelletier’s widow gave a tearful tribute to her husband at the ceremony saying he wasn’t just her husband. APPelletier’s casket is carried out of Xfinity Theater after his funeral in Hartford, Conn., on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. AP
“The light in our smiles will be forever dimmed and the thought of this world without that laugh seems unimaginable but has already become real,” she said. “I promise to keep you alive in our home, in our heart and in our boys’ memories forever. I love you, and I miss you.”
Have you still seen a lot of mini-liquor bottles, littering the streets in Connecticut?
Members of one environmental group said they still see them, and believe a ban is the best way to solve a multi-tiered problem.
State data shows in the past 12 months, ending September 30, there were more than 93 million mini-liquor bottles sold in our state.
The group supporting local bans says it’s not just the litter, but also the fact mini-liquor bottles are easy to conceal and consume on the job, in the car, or at school.
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The group “Connecticut Towns Nixing the Nip” met this week, working on strategies to get a legislative hearing on the issue in the upcoming 2026 session.
Right now, stores collect a 5-cent surcharge for every mini-liquor bottle sold, resulting in about $5 million annually for town and city environmental cleanup efforts.
Town funding from nip sales
Average revenue per year 2021 to 2025.
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“Having talked to a number of towns, well a few towns, they like the money, said Tom Metzner, a member of the group. “It’s fairly broad in how it can be used. It’s environmental. It doesn’t have to be used for cleaning up nips. And so the towns have become somewhat silent on the issue of banning nips.”
The group cited Chelsea, Massachusetts, where minis are banned, both litter and alcohol related EMS calls decreased.
The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which devised the “nickel per nip” program, said banning the mini-liquor bottles would be unprecedented.
Instead, it said the environmental group should be challenging municipalities to prove they actually use the money for cleanup.
Legislative leaders suggested several years ago the way to really do this is to have a redemption program for mini liquor bottles, and now, that could be possible.
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At least one state with the Clynk bottle collection program has redeemed mini-liquor bottles for cash.
The company just announced a major expansion in our state, but it told us it is not aware of a redemption program for mini-liquor bottles here any time soon.
National trust in the federal government is at some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades, and many Connecticut residents fall in line with that belief, a survey found.
New data from the Pew Research Center found only 17% of Americans believe that what the government does is right either “just about always” or “most of the time,” hitting one of the lowest points Pew has seen since first asking this question in 1958. And according to a DataHaven survey, Connecticut residents trust the federal government less than state or local institutions.
While these are some of the lowest polling numbers seen in American history, national trust in the federal government has been on the decline for decades. Public trust initially dropped in the 1960s and ’70s during the Vietnam War from a near 80% but began rising again in the 1980s into the early ’90s. Trust peaked again after 9/11 before falling.
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The DataHaven survey found that of all Connecticut residents surveyed, only 9% trust the federal government “a great deal” to look out for the best interests of them and their family. About 28% trust the federal government “a fair amount.”
Federal government trust among Connecticut residents was at its highest in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal stimulus programs and child tax credit were active.
The DataHaven survey also asked about trust in local and state government. Connecticut residents generally trust these institutions more than they trust the federal government, the survey found.
Trust in the local governments was higher than trust in both state and federal, with 67% of residents surveyed trusting their local government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
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And when it came to state government, 61% of residents trust the state “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
However, across the board, white residents are more likely to trust local and state government than are residents of color. Black residents had higher levels of trust in government than Latino and Puerto Rican residents, but less than white residents.
As of early 2025, the Connecticut State Police was facing a staffing shortage of roughly 300 troopers compared to the more than 1,200 troopers the department had in its ranks over a decade ago. This is due largely to retirements, resignations and a shrinking applicant pool.
Recent academy classes are helping slowly rebuild staffing, but Gov. Ned Lamont and police leadership say Connecticut still needs substantially more troopers to meet public safety demands. More recently, news outlets reported the department had 938 troopers.
This spring, troopers negotiated a 4.5% wage hike with state officials. Troopers’ base pay is on average about $116,000 per year, but that rises to $175,000 per year once overtime is included.
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Reginald David is the Community Engagement Reporter for CT Mirror. He builds relationships across Connecticut to elevate community voices and deepen public dialogue around local issues. Previously, he was a producer at KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR station, where he created community-centered programming, led live event coverage for major events like the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade, and Royals Opening Day, and launched KC Soundcheck, a music series spotlighting local and national artists. Reginald has also hosted special segments, including an in-depth interview with civil rights leader Alvin Brooks and live community coverage on issues like racial segregation and neighborhood development. He began his public media career as an ‘Integrity in News’ intern at WNPR in Hartford.
