[T]he same day Vermont State Police said more action should have been taken pursuing a man who escaped from a drug treatment facility and later allegedly committed a sexually assault, a trooper working in the barracks that assisted in the case has been suspended.
According to Adam Silverman, a spokesperson for Vermont State Police, Trooper Sean Brennan was suspended with pay suspended at the same time as a probe into state police handling of an escape case.
Silverman said Wednesday that state police could not comment on the reason for the suspension, including whether it is tied to an internal probe announced late Tuesday night.
That investigation is looking into the state police’s handling of the search for Everett Simpson, 41, after they learned Friday from the Valley Vista treatment facility in Bradford that he fled the facility.
Simpson, who had been facing criminal charges stemming from his September arrest in a car-chase case, was released Jan. 3 after posting $3,000 bail so he could attend the treatment facility. A condition of that release required Valley Vista to notify state police if he fled the facility.
According to state police, Valley Vista provided that notification Friday night.
Over the weekend, according to court filings, Simpson abducted a woman and her 5-year-old child from the Mall of New Hampshire parking lot in Manchester, New Hampshire, drove her to Vermont, and forced her into a hotel room where he sexually assaulted her.
In a statement late Tuesday night that also provided a timeline of state police actions in the case, Silverman said an investigation is underway to determine why troopers didn’t seek a warrant for Simpson’s arrest or alert the public after receiving notice Friday he fled Valley Vista.
Federal authorities filed federal kidnapping charges against Simpson on Monday following his arrest Sunday in Pennsylvania. He was taken into custody in that state after crashing in a car chase. He is currently held on $1 million bail in Pennsylvania, and it’s not clear when he will be returned to Vermont to face the kidnapping charges.
