Trooper headed to court in Merritt Parkway theft

Connecticut State Police Trooper Aaron Huntsman walks out of Bridgeport Superior Court after his arraignment on Monday, December 17, 2012. Connecticut State Police Trooper Aaron Huntsman walks out of Bridgeport Superior Court after his arraignment on Monday, December 17, 2012. Photo: Unknown, B.K. Angeletti Photo: Unknown, B.K. Angeletti Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Trooper headed to court in Merritt Parkway theft 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT -- A state trooper accused of stealing a motorist's money and gold cross as the man lay dying on the Merritt Parkway is heading for trial.

After Aaron "AJ" Huntsman turned down a plea bargain for a second time Monday that would have him serve only a year in prison, state Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin ordered the case to be readied for trial.

"It's clear the case will not be resolved short of a trial," the judge said.

The case will set down for a trial before Judge John Blawie within the next 10 days.

"Once again we have come to court only to see the case continued again," said a dejected Marguerite Scalesse, mother of the victim, John Scalesse. "It's taking so long for justice to be done."

Huntsman and his lawyer, Ryan McGuigan, declined comment as they left the Golden Hill Street courthouse.

Huntsman, 43, a 19-year veteran of the State Police, is charged with two counts of third-degree larceny and one count each of interfering with police and tampering with evidence.

He is accused of stealing $3,700 from the 49-year-old victim on Sept. 22, 2012. Scalesse, a former executive of the JAS Masonry in Milford, was killed after his motorcycle crashed into a construction company truck on the northbound section of exit 44 on the Merritt Parkway in Fairfield.

State police said Huntsman maintained his innocence even after he was shown a video of him taking the money. The video was captured on the dash camera of his own police car.

The arrest warrant affidavit states that Huntsman, who was the first trooper at the crash scene, walked over to where Scalesse lay, bent down and picked up Scalesse's gold chain from a pool of blood.

Later, Huntsman told Scalesse's grieving father that he didn't see any money on the victim.

State police later found the cash held with a rubber band under the front seat of Huntsman's cruiser.