Officer suspended for submitting 1000 false tickets, listed drivers as “Native American” when they were not
By Susan Raff and Zoe Strothers
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HARTFORD, Connecticut (WFSB) — There are more disturbing details in the fake ticket scandal involving Connecticut State Police.
Eyewitness News has confirmed a longtime Connecticut State Police trooper was suspended this week for submitting 1000 tickets where he listed many drivers as “Native American,” even though most of the drivers were actually from other races and ethnicities.
Trooper Chris Melanson had his police powers suspended and has been taken off the job indefinitely after an internal investigation.
Melanson was part of the traffic services unit.
His suspension comes weeks after an audit found a high likelihood that hundreds of Connecticut State Police troopers had falsified tens of thousands of traffic tickets.
“Maybe they didn’t get the information to input it correctly maybe a lot of mistakes were made. And I also have a feeling some of the people there are doing this purposefully, and they are going to be held accountable-somebody was yesterday,” said Governor Ned Lamont.
“It’s also very clear at this point that federal authorities are looking into this as well. Maybe they are looking into this as criminally prosecuting somebody, not just the troopers who did it, but the supervisors who allowed this to happen, or perhaps encouraged it,” said Mike Lawlor, Criminal Justice Expert.
Governor Lamont says he is hiring an outside firm to do an independent investigation.
Next Wednesday, state lawmakers are having a hearing to find out what’s been happening.
Some of the troopers could be criminally charged, which would possibly jeopardize their pensions and prevent them from keeping their careers in law enforcement.
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