By Bruno Matarazzo Jr.
New Haven Register, Conn.
SOUTHBURY, Conn. — A Connecticut State Police trooper resigned Thursday following her arrest for allegedly lying about being struck by a vehicle that fled the scene last October, according to police.
Samantha Stella, 28, is charged with first-degree falsely reporting an incident, misuse of 911, evading responsibility and failure to drive in the established lane.
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Stella was released on a $10,000 bond and is to be arraigned Jan. 22 at state Superior Court in Waterbury.
Stella reported being struck by a Mazda hatchback in Danbury, resulting in injuries and a large response from Danbury Fire Department and state police, according to the warrant for her arrest.
Investigators found no physical evidence of another vehicle and no supporting crash data. Independent witnesses instead showed Stella’s cruiser left the road near Exit 14, entered the grass median and struck a metal reflective pole, according to the warrant.
Vehicle parts recovered from that location were confirmed to match Stella’s cruiser and an event data recorder analysis supported the striking of a fixed object, not another vehicle, state police said in the warrant.
Stella later told investigators she was distracted by her onboard computer, lost control and hit a pole in Southbury and then drove west to Danbury before reporting the crash as a hit-and-run, the warrant said.
State police noted Stella had four previous self-reported cruiser crashes.
Last August, state police decertified a former state trooper for a similar incident.
Catherine Koeppel, a former Connecticut State Police sergeant who left the scene of a crash in Brookfield in 2022 after rear-ending a college student, was decertified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council for misconduct.
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