A West Haven man is facing a slew of charges, including attempted murder, for allegedly trying to run down a state police trooper, which prompted another trooper to open fire.
No one was injured in the incident. Reginald Book, 70, was taken into custody early Monday morning following a nearly 12-hour standoff with police in West Haven, a small town on the western edge of Rutland County bordering New York state.
Book pleaded not guilty later Monday afternoon to several charges, including attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and simple assault.
Book appeared via video at the hearing held in White River Junction criminal court; he was being held in the Springfield prison.
Judge Elizabeth Mann granted a request by Rutland County State’s Attorney Rose Kennedy to hold Book without bail.
Trooper Craig Roland, who fired his gun during the incident and hit Book’s vehicle at least once, has been placed on administrative leave for at least five days, as is usual under state police policy after a weapon has been fired. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Rutland County State’s Attorney Office are conducting separate reviews of the shooting to determine if the use of force was justified.
The charges of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault stem from allegations that Book tried to run over a state police trooper at the standoff scene on Main Road in West Haven, according to police.
The simple assault charge, police said, arises from an incident earlier Sunday where he and another man got into a fight, leading to the investigation.
Police said they found Book around 2:30 p.m. Sunday inside a van on his property. They tried to arrest him on the assault charge from the earlier fight, but Book refused to get out his vehicle, police said, and drove around the property, “at times in the direction of the troopers.”
Troopers used spike strips to try to keep Book from driving away, and at one point Trooper Jeremy Sullivan fell near the front of Book’s vehicle, police said. According to the police, the troopers at the scene heard Book revving the engine while driving toward Sullivan, and Roland fired his handgun at the van, striking it at least one time, and the van stopped.
The standoff ensued and Book was eventually taken into custody around 1:20 a.m. Monday, police said. He was not injured.
Book was taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center for an evaluation and then taken to the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.
According to an affidavit filed by state police Detective Sgt. Sean Reilly, police had three or four incidents with Book throughout the past week, including one involving resisting arrest.
In the latest incident, after Roland fired on Book’s vehicle — described in the filing as a red shuttle bus — a trooper noticed a single bullet hole and “spiderwebbing” of the windshield.
Reilly said in the affidavit that the incident took place on the first day of the use of body cameras for troopers in the Rutland barracks. The detective wrote that he reviewed body cam footage as part of his investigation.
Book was on the phone with dispatchers during the incident, the affidavit said, and allegedly warned, “Someone will get hurt if they keep messing around.”
In addition, the affidavit stated, Book told dispatchers, “if they fire one more time, he will drive out of there and shove the trooper vehicle out of the way and head home.”
After he was taken into custody, the affidavit stated, Book was asked if he understood his right to remain silent and he replied, “whatever.” And told he had a right to talk to an attorney before questioning, according to the affidavit, Book responded, “I don’t even know what that means.”
Based on Book’s responses as well as Book’s demeanor, the affidavit stated, investigators did not feel that Book was able to knowingly waive his right to be questioned.
Kirk Williams, an attorney representing Book during the arraignment Monday afternoon, challenged whether the prosecution had the evidence needed to support the charge of attempted murder against his client. He said there was no evidence that Book had any intent to kill the trooper.
Kennedy, the prosecutor, countered that Book’s actions showed a “depraved” indifference to human life as he drove toward the trooper who had fallen.
Mann, the presiding judge, said the charge of attempted second-degree met the probable cause standard and allowed it to stand.
Roland, the trooper who fired his gun, had been in the news earlier this year when he was arrested in Rutland for allegedly driving drunk. However, that charge was thrown out when a prosecutor determined that the two Rutland officers who handled that case had botched the investigation, including showing such “deferential” treatment toward the trooper that the charge could not go forward.
