The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has cleared two state police troopers of criminal wrongdoing stemming from their exchange of gunfire with a Rhode Island man that left him wounded after a lengthy multiple-vehicle pursuit in northern Vermont this summer.
Brenden Sackal, of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, was charged after the July 14 incident with a slew of offenses, including attempted murder, stemming from the chase and subsequent shootout involving Sgt. Joshua Mikkola and Trooper Richard Berlandy.
“Under the totality of the circumstances,” a press release Friday from the attorney general’s office stated, “Sergeant Mikkola and Trooper Berlandy reasonably believed that they, and other officers, were in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily harm at the hands of Mr. Sackal, and that they used necessary and appropriate force to defend themselves and others.”
Sackal, according to court filings, led police on a roughly 60-mile pursuit that began in northern New Hampshire and ended in Burke when he crashed his vehicle. Sackal immediately came out of his vehicle wearing a tactical helmet and brandishing a firearm, police said.
“Trooper Berlandy discharged his firearm as Mr. Sackal fired an ‘automatic’ weapon towards the officers,” the press release stated.
“Sergeant Mikkola fired at Mr. Sackal and Mr. Sackal fired at Sergeant Mikkola,” the release added. “After this exchange, Mr. Sackal, seemingly out of ammunition, surrendered and was taken into custody. Mr. Sackal was later treated for a non-fatal gunshot wound to the chest.”
In addition to the attorney general’s office, the press release Friday stated, the Caledonia County State’s Attorney Office reviewed the case and also determined that the use of deadly force by the troopers was justified.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Attorney general rules troopers’ actions justified in shooting of Rhode Island man after chase.