BROADALBIN -- A car driven by an off-duty state trooper likely hit a Northville man who was found dead in the road, and the victim had a previous DWI conviction for striking a teenage girl, authorities said.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said the trooper, Brian Beardsley, 32, was driving with his girlfriend on county Highway 110 around 2:41 a.m. Sunday when he struck Chad E. Finch, 29, of South Shore Road.

Deputies say the original call to police was made by an unidentified woman who reported that she saw what appeared to be a body in the southbound lane of the 1200 block of Highway 110.

When police arrived at the scene, they said, the caller was not there. An investigation revealed that the cellphone caller was Beardsley's girlfriend, and that they were in the vehicle that likely struck Finch, deputies said. When deputies located Beardsley and went to Amsterdam to inspect the vehicle about an hour later, the car appeared to have been involved in an accident.

An autopsy was performed Monday at Albany Medical Center Hospital.

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Fulton County Undersheriff Kevin Lenahan said it's unclear whether alcohol was involved in the accident. Finch apparently was walking home from a restaurant on the dark roadway. Beardsley has not been charged or ticketed. The investigation is continuing.

In 2000, Finch was convicted of driving while ability impaired after he hit a 14-year-old girl in Amsterdam as she crossed the street on her bike. Finch was arrested for DWI in 2003 and again for felony DWI in 2004 for veering across traffic and crashing into a car in Gloversville. The 2004 accident injured an 11-year-old girl who was a passenger in the other car. Finch pleaded guilty to felony DWI in August 2004 and was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison. He was released in 2006.

Finch was the father of a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl.

In a another strange twist, it appears Beardsley was dragged by a car in December 2008 while attempting to stop a drunken driver.

At that time, an account in The Leader-Herald of Gloversville said Beardsley was directing traffic on Route 29 in Mayfield when he stopped a speeding car. When Beardsley determined the driver had been drinking, he reached in to turn off the ignition and the driver took off, dragging Beardsley 25 feet. He was treated for a shoulder injury.

State Police spokeswoman Trooper Maureen Tuffey said Beardsley's work status has not changed in relation to the investigation of Sunday's accident.

Reach Stanforth at 454-5697 or lstanforth@timesunion.com.