A Danbury judge has dismissed criminal charges against a Connecticut state trooper in connection with an alleged hit and run in July 2022.
Sergeant Catherine Koeppel was not present in court when Judge Charles Stango said she completed a diversionary program and dismissed her case.
State police reports said on July 24, 2022 Sergeant Koeppel rear ended a woman’s car twice on Route 7 in Brookfield, then left the scene in her cruiser. She was off duty at the time.
The woman driving the other vehicle sustained minor injuries, according to her attorney.
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After the crash, Sergeant Koeppel called a state police barracks saying she hit a deer.
Troopers investigating the incident concluded the damage to Sergeant Koeppel’s cruiser "was not indicative of a deer strike.”, She was charged with evading and following too closely.
Court records showed Sergeant Koeppel applied for accelerated rehabilitation. It does not involve a guilty plea, and allows many first-time offenders to have their case dismissed, if they remain offense-free for roughly a year, plus other conditions.
Now that Koeppel’s accelerated rehabilitation has been completed, the case has been statutorily sealed. By law, if you ask the court about it, the court won’t even acknowledge it exists and you can’t get any of the documents connected to it.
“We have always felt like in the end these charges would be dismissed," Koeppel’s attorney, Gene Zingaro, told NBC Connecticut Investigates. "Hopefully all those involved can move past this now.”
Zingaro did not answer why Koeppel left the scene and later reported she hit a deer, due to a pending civil matter connected to the case.
The attorney for the accident victim has not responded to our request for comment.
The Connecticut State Police said Sergeant Koeppel remains on administrative duty, pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation into the matter.
