Two Vermont State Police troopers did not investigate an off-duty trooper apparently passed out in his vehicle in a convenience store parking lot in Bennington, according to a prosecutor.
That slumped-over off-duty trooper has since resigned and three of his colleagues have been suspended as state police conduct an internal investigation.
Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage said Friday she lacks evidence to charge that off-duty trooper with drunken driving for the incident that took place in the early morning of Oct. 28 in the parking lot of a Cumberland Farms store.
“What I have is a guy sleeping in his car that no one ever had any interaction with,” the prosecutor said.
“State police just happened to be there for another call and the Cumberland Farms manager told them that this guy had been in his car and he appeared to be asleep,” Marthage said. “The camera video that I have doesn’t show them ever talking to him.”
Though Marthage has no proof to move forward with a criminal prosecution of that off-duty trooper for DUI, Vermont State Police are conducting an internal investigation. The off-duty trooper, identified as Spencer Foucher, resigned a day after the incident.
Foucher, described by state police as a “probationary trooper,” had been assigned to the Rutland barracks.
Three other state police members have been on paid administrative leave as of Oct, 29. They include Lt. Michael Studin, who oversees the Rutland barracks, and Troopers Benjamin Irwin and Thomas Stange of the Shaftsbury barracks in Bennington County.
The existence of the investigation and resulting suspensions was first reported by Mike Donoghue in the Rutland Herald.
“The Vermont State Police takes situations like this seriously and responds swiftly,” Adam Silverman, Vermont State Police spokesman, said in statement this week.
“As soon as Senior Command Staff learned of the situation, they immediately took action with respect to the members involved,” he said, adding, “Because Vermont law is clear that internal investigations are not matters of public record, the Vermont State Police is unable to say anything further at this time.”
Marthage said that state police forwarded her office an after-the-fact investigation regarding the suspected drunken driving by Foucher, but it lacked key pieces, including a breath test.
“The information I have is that they spoke to him,” the prosecutor said, “they spoke to the officers that had responded, and then they did the investigation going to the place where he had been the night before, getting his receipt, talking to the owner, talking to people who were working who would have interacted with him.”
The receipt from the Bennington bar where Foucher was that night showed he paid for two drinks, Marthage said. She said wasn’t certain of the name of the establishment.
“No one said that he was intoxicated, that he was showing signs of intoxication,” the prosecutor said, adding, “I don’t have anybody that witnessed operation (of a motor vehicle).”
Marthage declined to identify the troopers who responded to the Cumberland Farms, referring that question to Vermont State Police.
She did say of those troopers, “The information I have is that they never interacted with (Foucher) directly.”
Asked if it’s standard procedure for troopers to not go over to a vehicle where someone may be slumped over inside, the prosecutor replied, “I can’t really say what standard procedure is for Vermont State Police.”
She did say that decision left her little evidence to prove the driver was behind the wheel had operated a motor vehicle while impaired.
“In this case,” Marthage said, “there was a complete lack of evidence.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Troopers didn’t investigate colleague slumped in car, state’s attorney says.