The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Accused police sergeant’s case pushed back
DANBURY — The case of a Connecticut state police sergeant accused of fleeing the scene of a motor vehicle crash last month has been continued to September.
Sgt. Catherine Koeppel was scheduled to be arraigned in Danbury Superior Court on Friday, but the case was pushed back to Sept. 23, the state’s attorney’s office said that morning. An earlier case date had been set for Tuesday, which was also delayed to Friday.
Koeppel was issued a misdemeanor summons for following too close and evading responsibility following the July 24 crash, state police said. She’s free on a promise to appear in court.
State police have also suspended the 36-year-old’s police powers in the wake of the incident, but she is still working at a desk assignment, the agency said.
A lawyer for the other driver involved has said Koeppel crashed her state-issued Dodge Charger twice into the back of his client’s Kia Optima before leaving the scene.
“She was stopped at a red light, and she got rear-ended — twice — by the same person, who then sped off,” attorney Joseph Foti said in an earlier interview.
Foti said his client, a 20-yearold New Milford college student, had her car totaled in the crash. State police said neither Koeppel or the other driver were injured, but Foti said his client was injured and will need physical therapy for injuries to her neck
and back.
State police said the crash occurred on Route 7 near the Route 202 intersection in Brookfield. The agency said both vehicles
were in the northbound lanes when Koeppel, who was off-duty, crashed into the rear of the Kia.
An accident information summary released by state police shows the Kia was towed from the scene.
The Dodge Charger was also towed, but the document does not show where it was taken following the crash.