Global Courant 2023-05-23 16:24:03
Two Vermont State Police officers were charged with misconduct last year in an incident in which they used a bean bag fired from a shotgun against a man acting irrationally, who fell and suffered head injuries after being hit, state police said Monday.
Sergeant Ryan Wood and Trooper Zachary Trocki are due to appear in court in Brattleboro on May 30 to face charges of simple assault and reckless endangerment.
“The Attorney General’s Office has determined that the use of force was not justified given the circumstances of the incident,” the police said in a press release.
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Additional details of the case will be released after Wood and Trocki appear in court.
Last week, the Vermont Troopers’ Association said charges against Wood and Trocki were coming. At the time, the union and lawyers for the two troopers said they objected to “the criminalization of a split-second public safety decision” and warned that the case “would set a dangerous precedent for law enforcement throughout Vermont “.
Two Vermont state police officers were charged with misconduct for shooting a man behaving irrationally with a bean bag chair, causing him to fall and injure his head. (Fox news)
An email was sent to the union on Monday asking for comment.
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The two troopers were dispatched on June 17 to a location in the southern Vermont town of Newfane where a man was reportedly behaving irrationally and causing damage. The union says when the troopers arrived, they found a man with a handsaw on a raised lot at the back of the house.
Shortly after being hit with the bean bag, the man slipped and fell more than 10 feet, sustaining a significant head injury, police said.
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The two troopers were placed on paid administrative leave after the incident. Now they are suspended. After being charged, they will not be paid again, police said.
The union said last week that the matter should have been handled through the internal affairs of the state police.
