A Shelburne Police Department sergeant who struck and killed a stationary cyclist in South Burlington with his cruiser this past November was cited into court on felony charges of grossly negligent operation of a vehicle, state police said in a press release Thursday evening.
The charge was issued by the Vermont State Police after a “monthlong review” of the preliminary investigation by Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George.
The crash occurred in the early morning of Nov. 11 in the far right southbound lane of Shelburne Road when on-duty police sergeant Kyle Kapitanski hit 38-year-old Sean Hayes. Hayes, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Hayes estate last month against the town of Shelburne, “was off his bicycle standing immediately next to the curb alongside his bicycle and trailer” when the incident occurred. “The area where Sean was standing was also a bus stop with a large glass enclosed waiting area for bus passengers,” wrote the Hayes’s attorney Brooks McArthur in the suit
After Kapitanski struck Hayes, he did not come to an immediate stop, according to the suit. “(Kapitanski) inexplicably continued driving southbound a significant distance and eventually applied his brakes before turning around and driving to the intersection of Fayette Drive where he activated his emergency lights and parked the police cruiser,” wrote McArthur.
David Sleigh, Kapitanski’s attorney, said Thursday that he accepted the citation from state police on the charge on his client’s behalf.
“I’ve asked the state police to provide me with the accident report that they’re mandated to file with the (Vermont) Department of Motor Vehicles and they have yet to do that, so I have no idea what their theory of liability is,” Sleigh said, adding, “Our intention is to defend zealously.”
Kapitanski is due to appear for arraignment at 8:30 a.m. March 13 in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Shelburne police sergeant charged in November fatal strike of cyclist.