Vermont State Police are calling an email mistakenly sent Monday by a sergeant to a media list mocking siblings arrested on charges earlier in the day “completely unacceptable.”
It started with a press release issued by State Trooper Tyler Noyes at 5:44 a.m. Monday providing information about the brother and sister arrested in southern Vermont on charges related to an alleged vehicle theft.
A few hours later, at 11:05 a.m. Monday, Sgt. Travis Valcourt responded to the trooper who sent that email, as well as to members of the media who have signed up to receive press releases from Vermont State Police.
That email from Valcourt stated, “Very Nice, you know what they say, a family that burgles together stays together.”
A few minutes later, at 11:21 a.m. Monday, Valcourt sent an email stating that he was recalling the previous message.
Valcourt could not immediately be reached Tuesday for comment.
Adam Silverman, a Vermont State Police spokesperson, said in a statement Tuesday the
“email that was sent inadvertently to the media list Monday was a mistake and never should have been sent.”
He added, “It was completely unacceptable, and the situation is being dealt with internally as a personnel issue.”
According to the release sent by Noyes, the incident leading to the charges against the brother and sister took place around 1:50 a.m. Monday when troopers responded to a call in Grafton for a report of a vehicle down an embankment, partially in a brook.
At the scene police said they learned that the vehicle’s driver, Trevor Clark, 22, of Bellows Falls, had active arrest warrants for failing to appear for a court hearing on charges of petty larceny, operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent and grand larceny.
Police added that they discovered that the vehicle Clark was driving was stolen from a residence in Westminster several hours earlier.
Also, according to police, Clark’s sister, Jasmin Clark, 19, of Rockingham, a passenger in the vehicle when it crashed, was also found to have driven the vehicle earlier that evening.
Trevor Clark was arrested on the warrants and also charged with drunken driving, operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, and petty larceny for allegedly stealing a cellphone from a home in Westminster, police said.
Jasmin Clark was arrested for drunken driving and possession of stolen property.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Email gaffe lands state police sergeant in hot water.
