By the Associated Press

ENFIELD — A 32-year-old Enfield man was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that struck a Connecticut police cruiser  on Interstate 91, killing a state trooper, police said Friday.

Michael Pajak, 32, of Enfield was speeding Thursday afternoon when the truck he was driving veered into a state police cruiser parked in the northbound right shoulder during a traffic stop, police said. Trooper Kenneth Hall was pronounced dead at a Springfield, Mass. hospital.

Pajak and a passenger in the truck, Jenny Benvenuto, 33, of Windsor, also were taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Benvenuto was in critical condition Friday, but there was no information on Pajak.

Pajak had not been charged in connection with Hall’s death as of Friday. Police said their investigation was continuing.

Pajak has a criminal record that includes a citation for distracted driving in May, according to the Judicial Branch website. He was convicted of driving with a suspended license in 2000 and served time in prison on drug charges, according to the records, which were first reported by the Hartford Courant.

Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio said seven of that state’s police cruisers escorted Hall’s body Friday afternoon from the Holyoke office of the state medical examiner to the state line on Interstate 91. Connecticut troopers continued the escort from there to a Windsor funeral home.

In both states, highway access was briefly closed to allow the procession to pass.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered U.S. and state flags to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Hall, who was 57.

Connecticut State Police said Hall’s death was the 12th fatal motor vehicle accident involving a trooper or auxiliary trooper.

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