An Orange County sheriff’s deputy has been accused of firing two shots into a fleeing vehicle that he had tailgated and tried to block while off duty Monday.
William Pine, 49, of Brookfield now faces two counts of attempted aggravated assault. He serves as a deputy for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, according to the Vermont State Police.
He has been placed on administrative leave, according to the department.
State police said the incident occurred in Williamstown at about 7:45 p.m. Monday.
Two men — 41-year-old Kevin Goodale of Brookfield and 37-year-old Nathan Lyonnais of Barton — told troopers they were traveling in a Jeep Wrangler on Stone Road that night when a gray Nissan Titan pickup truck started tailgating them.
Investigators later determined Pine was driving the truck.
Goodale and Lyonnais told troopers that the truck trailed them at a close distance until reaching the junction with state Route 64, where they stopped. Then the truck pulled in front of the pair at a 45-degree angle, blocking them, the men told state police.
The two men tried to drive away on Route 64, heading toward the Interstate 89 at Exit 5, when they said two gunshots rang out. The first shot blew out the rear window of their Jeep, they told troopers, and the second shot struck the vehicle’s rear bumper.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department asked state police to investigate the next day after the two men reported the incident. The men said the person involved had identified themselves as a deputy, according to a press release from the department.
Troopers investigated and issued Pine a citation to appear in court on Friday. State police did not detail how they determined Pine’s involvement.
Pine had been a police officer in Berlin in 2017, according to Times Argus reports from the time. He resigned in April that year to become an Orange County deputy, the newspaper reported. The town had paid to put Pine through the police academy in 2016 as part of an effort to address police department shortages.
A Rutland Herald report in 2016 about academy graduations said Pine had retired from a 23-year career with the U.S. Army before pursuing police work.
“He became a police officer because he wanted to continue to serve,” the paper reported.
