CT State Trooper Heading To Prison For Stealing Items Off a Fatal Crash Victim

State Trooper Aaron Huntsman, 44, pleaded guilty to third-degree larceny and tampering with evidence Wednesday and will be heading to prison for more than a year, NBC Connecticut reports. 

Huntsman stole $3,000 and a gold chain from the body of John Scalesse, of Orange, who died in a car accident in Fairfield in September 2012, NBC reports. 

According to a Patch report at the time of the arrest, Huntsman, an 18-year Connecticut State Police veteran, was arrested in November 2012 on allegations he stole personal belongings from Scalesse’s body. 

According to a release from Lt. J. Paul Vance at the time, the crime took place on Sept. 22 while Huntsman was investigating the accident on the Merritt Parkway.

Huntsman, a trooper based out of Troop G in Bridgeport, was charged with two counts of third-degree larceny, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and interfering with police.

In a state police report, Vance said several first responder agencies were present on the scene of the accident, including state police, Fairfield fire, and EMS. 

Subsequent to this fatal accident, family members determined that certain personal property belonging to the deceased was not accounted for, including jewelry, clothing, and cash, Vance said. Family members were able to recover the clothing of the deceased from the hospital, but there were still missing items of value, according to the report.

State police initiated an investigation in an attempt to determine the location of the missing property. It was determined that the jewelry had not been logged into evidence by the Trooper investigating the fatal accident, Huntsman.

State Police Detectives conducted numerous interviews and examined evidence that resulted in the seizure of a large amount of cash from the police cruiser of the investigating Trooper. An arrest warrant was issued yesterday and Huntsman was taken into custody.

Huntsman's police powers were suspended upon initiation of this investigation, Vance said at the time.