This commentary is by Allen Gilbert of Worcester. He is a former journalist, teacher and ACLU-VT executive director. Following the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, and the revelation that records of police encounters that end in death were scant or nonexistent, he joined efforts around the country to ensure accurate data was collected every year. In 2019, he researched fatal police shootings in Vermont over the 50 years from 1970 to 2019. He followed that in 2020 by examining the previous 50 years, from 1920 to 1969. He now compiles an annual report of Vermont police fatals.
Vermont police were involved in two incidents in 2024 that ended in the deaths of two men.
Jason Lowery was shot June 12 in Orange by a Vermont State Police trooper, Adam Roaldi. Roaldi was trying to take away a sawed-off shotgun he had seen in Lowery’s vehicle.
Roaldi had responded to a call to perform a welfare check at a residence in Orange. After dealing with the call, Roaldi noticed a man in the driver’s seat of a vehicle nearby, appearing unconscious. Assuming a drug overdose because of a needle in the man’s arm, Roaldi called for medical assistance. While waiting for medics to arrive, the man — Lowery — regained consciousness. In trying to speak with Lowery, Roaldi noticed a sawed-off shotgun in the vehicle. He asked Lowery to get out of the vehicle, and a struggle for the gun ensued.
Lowery was able to grab the shotgun, and he aimed it at the trooper. Roaldi then fired three rounds from his service weapon at Lowery. Lowery fell to the ground, but he “continued to manipulate the sawed-off shotgun, prompting Trooper Lowery to fire an additional three rounds at Mr. Lowery,” according to investigators. Lowery was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lowery, police said, had been subject to an active warrant regarding a charge related to fentanyl trafficking.
In November, state Attorney General Charity Clark cleared Roaldi of any criminal wrongdoing in the incident. “Under the totality of the circumstances, trooper Roaldi reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily harm at the hands of Mr. Lowery, and he used necessary and appropriate force to defend himself,” she wrote.
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The second death did not involve a gun, and an investigation of what happened during the Nov. 11 event is ongoing. A bicyclist was struck by a police car driven by a Shelburne officer, resulting in the cyclist’s death.
The incident occurred about 2:45 a.m. on Shelburne Road (Route 7) in South Burlington near the intersection with Fayette Drive. A Burlington man, Sean Hayes, 38, was with his bike, which he was using to tow a trailer, when he was struck by a police cruiser driven by a Shelburne officer, Sgt. Kyle Kapitanski. It was raining and dark at the time of the crash. Hayes died at the scene, according to WCAX News. There was apparently no contact between the officer and the cyclist before the accident.
South Burlington Deputy Police Chief Sean Briscoe used the term “collision” in talking about the accident. He told WCAX, “There are sidewalks, but there is no specific bike lane. Our indication is that the bike was not on the sidewalk and we don’t know the circumstances of why that collision happened.” Vermont State Police took charge of the investigation. The officer, Kapitanski, was placed on administrative leave.
WCAX News noted that, “This is the second fatal crash involving a bike and car on this road this year. Police are reminding people walking or riding their bikes at night to be visible with a reflective vest or lights,” suggesting that Hayes had no head-light or reflective clothing.
Hayes’ family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the town of Shelburne. According to court filings, Hayes was not on his bike at the time of the accident; he had stopped and gotten off, according to NBC 5 news. Also, the filings contend that Kapitanski did not stop after hitting Hayes, and that he drove a “significant distance” before turning around and parking his cruiser at the scene, according to WCAX.
Other details are needed to establish circumstances of the officer’s car hitting Hayes. While the use of a gun by police on a person reflects clear intent, an officer driving a car that hits someone and results in their death presents a murky situation, requiring further investigation.
If the current rate of police fatals so far this decade continues, the state will add a second double-digit decade of fatal shootings. The first was the 2010s, when police were involved in 17 fatal incidents, an all-time high. The average rate over the last 50 years has been 7.6 fatals per decade, and over 100 years, 4.1 per decade. Six fatals (not including the Hayes death) have occurred in Vermont since 2020.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Allen Gilbert: Fatal police encounters continued in 2024.