State clears trooper in fatal shooting after Fairbanks car chase

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - The Alaska State Trooper who shot and killed 20-year-old Thomas Aquino following a July car pursuit in Fairbanks will not face criminal charges, the Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions announced Monday.

The office completed its review of the July 7 shooting on Tuesday, concluding there was insufficient evidence to disprove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Sgt. Brent Hatch acted in self-defense when he fired at Aquino. Prosecutors reached that conclusion after examining the evidence gathered in the case and applying the relevant law, according to the office’s announcement.

The shooting unfolded in the early morning hours after a trooper tried to stop a Ford sedan near Noble Street and Airport Way for equipment violations.

Aquino, the driver, did not stop, and troopers pursued him for about 90 seconds before he turned down a dead-end road in the 100 block of Fifth Avenue, where his vehicle became partially boxed in by a marked patrol car.

Troopers said Aquino then drove toward Hatch, who was standing outside his vehicle ordering him to stop. Hatch opened fire; a second trooper at the scene did not fire his gun.

Aquino was taken to a Fairbanks-area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and his body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy.

Hatch has spent 18 years as a trooper and came to the job with five years of prior law enforcement experience.

Hatch was also involved in a separate officer-involved shooting in St. Mary’s in 2018 and in another fatal shooting in Fairbanks in 2025.

With that review now complete, prosecutors have closed the case without filing charges against Hatch.

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