A Middletown police officer is accused of staging a crime.
Officer Angelo Passanisi is accused of crashing his car and staging an accident scene to make it look like a hit and run.
On Sept. 23, police said, Passanisi filed a report that said his parked car had been hit and the driver fled the scene.
But on Oct. 15, Middletown police got a tip that Passanisi had crashed the car himself and staged the crash scene. Since then, Passanisi has been on paid leave.
He turned himself in Thursday morning at Middletown police headquarters and was charged with felony charges of insurance fraud and fabricating evidence and a misdemeanor of falsely an incident.
Passanisi was arrested after a nearly two-month investigation, police said.
“Officer Passanisi's arrest should not negatively reflect upon the men and women of this agency, and appropriate sanctions, should they be warranted, will be levied based upon the outcome of the internal investigation and the adjudication of the criminal case,” Patrick McMahon, acting police chief, said.
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Passanisi has been on the Middletown police force two and a half years and remains on paid leave, pending an internal investigation.
