State trooper dead after being swept away in Woodbury

The state police sergeant who died in Woodbury during a ferocious overnight storm was a 26-year “well-respected veteran” who was running the Litchfield barracks’ midnight shift at the time, police commanders said Thursday.

Sgt. Brian Mohl made a frantic emergency call for help as his cruiser took on water during last night’s storm, and then went missing. His death was the 25th line of duty death in the history of the Connecticut State Police.

“It is with deep regret and sadness that I report that the State Police today lost a good man who dedicated more than a quarter century to protecting the citizens of Connecticut. Sgt. Mohl was committed to helping others, to keeping public safety his priority and to

always assisting his fellow Troopers,” said Col. Stavros Mellekas, Commanding Officer of the State Police.

The sergeant was working near Jacks Bridge Road when he radioed at 3:30 a.m. to report his cruiser was caught in swift floodwater and that he needed help, Mellekas said.

Other first responders “pinged” the sergeant’s phone to try to find him, but it wasn’t until after daybreak that searchers — including a helicopter and dive teams — found his cruiser, mostly submerged in water. They used debris to break into the vehicle, but found it empty. Mellekas said. It took another hour of searching by ground and air, using drones and helicopters as the storm continued, to find the sergeant floating in the water farther down the river, he said.

Paramedics treated him both on the water and the shore as they rushed him to a waiting Life Star helicopter to fly to Yale New Haven Health, but he was presumed dead during the flight, Mellekas said. Doctors at the hospital officially confirmed his death when he arrived.

“Every line of duty death is heartbreaking and the loss of Sgt. Mohl is no different,” Mellekas said. “He was outside, in the middle of the night, in horrendous conditions, patrolling the Troop L area. He was doing a job he loved and he was taken much too soon.”

Investigators do not yet know why the sergeant was out of the barracks during the storm or exactly how he was swept away but believe he may have been checking on river flooding when the water rose.

Lamont and U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, both offered condolences to a visibly emotional state police Commissioner James Rovella, Mellekas and other state police outside the Troop L barracks.

“Obviously, we’re all devastated by this news. My heartfelt condolences to the entire Connecticut State Police force, but this is just a sobering reminder,” said Hayes, whose husband has served as a Waterbury police officer for 25 years.

“My husband reminds me all the time that every time an officer puts on that uniform and leaves the door, they’re putting themselves in harm’s way.

“But for the fact he was out trying to protect us, whether it was a call or checking on the river, he would have been at home with his family hunkering down like most of us were doing last night,” Hayes continued. “He would have been at home, you know, making sure that his house didn’t flood and that his family was safe, but he was out making sure other people’s families were safe.”

A somber Lamont ruefully recalled that just a week ago, he joined the celebration as a new state police class graduated from the academy. Lamont said troopers take care of the public every day.

“I was telling everybody stay safe, stay home — ride out the storm. That’s not what you do as a trooper. As a trooper, you go out and you try to rescue others, take care of them,” Lamont said. “Today we stand together as one as a family, with the trooper’s family and all the troopers together.”

Lamont later directed that flags around the state be lowered to half-staff to honor Mohl.

“He dedicated his career and his life to public safety and protecting the lives of others. His tragic loss is a reminder of the dangers that State Troopers and first responders put themselves in every day when responding to emergencies, and they deserve our utmost respect,” Lamont said. “Sgt. Mohl served the people of Connecticut with honor and commitment, and for that he will have our eternal gratitude and respect.”

Mohl entered state police training in the fall of 1994. He graduated from the academy in June 1995 with the 105th Training Troop, state police said.

He worked in Southbury before being promoted to a sergeant in Litchfield in 2000. He went on to serve in North Canaan, Bridgeport and Hartford before returning to Litchfield in 2008.

The state was deluged with heavy rains and flooding overnight from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which dumped more than half a foot of rain on Connecticut and wreaked havoc across the Northeast. At least nine people in the New York region died in the storm, according to published reports, and severe tornadoes tore through parts of New Jersey.

The Officer Down Memorial Page said there’s been 31 line of duty deaths due to drowning since 2010.