Conn. State Police Honor Woman for Helping to Stop Fleeing Driver who Killed Trooper

By Christine Dempsey

Source New Haven Register, Conn.

MERIDEN, CT — The woman who police said faced down an agitated driver she had just watched fatally strike a state trooper was honored by Connecticut State Police this week.

Geri-Lyn Dubay was given the Commissioner's Recognition Award during a ceremony Tuesday at the State Police Training Academy in Meriden.

Police said Dubay went "beyond the normal expectations and risked her own safety, which resulted in the apprehension of a fleeing, dangerous person."

That person was identified as Alex Oyola-Sanchez of Hartford, and he was charged with second-degree manslaughter, operating while under the influence of drugs and other charges after the hit-and-run crash that killed Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier on May 30, 2024.

Pelletier was standing outside a vehicle he had just pulled over on Interstate 84 in Southington and was talking to the driver when he was struck by the pickup Oyola-Sanchez was driving, police said at the time.

Oyola-Sanchez continued driving, and even picked up speed, as Dubay followed him, state police said.

"She followed the evading vehicle and immediately called 9-1-1 to relay what she had witnessed," state police said in announcing the award. "Upon catching up to the pickup, she lowered her window and notified the operator that he had just struck a state trooper."

They said the driver acknowledged Dubay and then tried to lose her, driving aggressively and erratically. When Dubay saw him pull over and try to stop other vehicles to catch a ride, she stopped behind the pickup, took pictures of it and continued to update state police.

A dispatcher told her to stay inside her car with the doors locked. But when another vehicle stopped, apparently so someone inside could, unknowingly, help the man get away, Dubay got out and yelled for the good Samaritan not to help him, police said, "which caused the evading operator to become increasingly agitated."

Dubay stayed with the driver until state police arrived and took him into custody, they said.

Dubay "rendered vital assistance in an emergency situation, preventing the operator who struck and killed Trooper Pelletier from eluding capture," state police said. "She utilized superior judgment by taking photographs for evidentiary value and provided dispatch with invaluable information."

Pelletier, 34, became a trooper in December 2015 after working for the state Department of Correction for two years. He was assigned to the Hartford FBI Task Force and later became a K-9 handler.

Dubay's was one of 30 awards given out during the ceremony.

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