A St. Johnsbury police sergeant has pleaded not guilty to an aggravated assault charge after he was accused of using excessive force on a man who he stopped for allegedly jaywalking.
George Johnson, 44, of Lunenburg, appeared Monday in Caledonia County Superior criminal court in St. Johnsbury for an arraignment on the felony charge.
Vermont State Police, the law enforcement agency that investigated the case, announced last month that it had cited Johnson into court.
After entering his not guilty plea during the court hearing, Johnson was released by Judge Michael Kainen on conditions, including that he not contact the man he was charged with assaulting.
According to charging documents made public Monday, Johnson allegedly assaulted 35-year-old John Stelzl at about 5:10 p.m. on May 10 after stopping Stelzl as he was walking near the Honking Bridge on Bay Street in St. Johnsbury.
Detective Sgt. Angela Baker of the Vermont State Police wrote in an affidavit that as part of her investigation she reviewed police body cam video as well as footage from a surveillance camera stationed near where the incident took place.
Stelzl was initially charged with several offenses stemming from the incident, but the Caledonia County State’s Attorney’s Office later dismissed the charges against Stelzl after reviewing Johnson’s body-worn camera footage, according to court filings.
Caledonia County State’s Attorney Jessica Zaleski, the filings added, told St. Johnsbury Police Chief Joel Pierce shortly after the incident that the “stuff she had seen in the video was very concerning … Like George Floyd concerning.”
According to those videos, Baker wrote, Johnson got out of his cruiser to approach Stelzl, who started walking and then running away from him, the affidavit stated.
Johnson ran after Stelzl, grabbed onto him by his backpack and told him he was “being detained,” according to the filing. Stelzl, who had fallen to the ground, then repeatedly shouted, “help, help, help,” Baker wrote, and Johnson eventually told Stelzl to roll over and put his hands behind his back and that he was under arrest.
“Sgt. Johnson tells (Stelzl) that he is ‘going to use force,’” according to the detective’s filing. “He tells him it is his ‘last chance’ and tells him again to ‘roll over.’”
Johnson then sprayed Stelzl with his pepper spray as Stelzl tried to push the spray away and move himself away, Baker wrote. Stelzl, who was still on the ground, then grabbed Johnson’s Taser out of its holster, the affidavit stated.
After a scuffle, Baker wrote, “Sgt. Johnson gains control of the taser, flips the switch and points it at Stelzl.”
Another officer arrived on the scene as Johnson shot Stelzl in the upper chest area with his Taser, according to the affidavit.
Stelzl again grabbed the Taser, shooting Johnson on the leg with it, according to the filing, after which Johnson regained control of the device.
Stelzl was still on his back on the ground and “flailing with his arms and legs” when Johnson told the second officer to “hit him with it. He already tased me,” the affidavit stated. The second officer then shot Stelzl with his Taser, according to the filing.
“Sgt. Johnson kneels on (Stelzl’s) head with his knee, pushing Stelzel’s head onto the pavement,” Baker wrote.
“Sgt. Johnson hits Stelzl on the back of his head with his right closed fist and yells ‘Stop! Roll over. Put your hands behind your back. Do it,’” Baker wrote. “Sgt. Johnson hits (Stelzl) again with his right fist. (Stelzl) yells, ‘stop, why are you doing this?’”
Johnson then hit Stelzl again with a right fist, the filing stated.
“Sgt. Johnson picks up his taser and tells (Stelzl) to turn over and tells him he is going to be tased again,” Baker wrote. “He then drive-stuns Stelzel in his lower back area,” referring to the taser mode in which the weapon is deployed directly against a body. “(Stelzl) cries out in pain. Sgt. Johnson continues to drive-stun (Stelzl) in the lower back area.”
Stelzl was later taken to the hospital for treatment for his injuries, including multiple facial fractures, the affidavit stated.
Pierce, the police chief, spoke to other town officials a few days after the incident, including the town attorney, and said that after watching the video “in slower mode” he realized Johnson’s actions were a “bit more egregious,” according to Baker’s affidavit. Johnson was then placed on paid leave from the department pending an investigation.
The police chief told an investigator his department’s officers do not normally patrol for jaywalking, adding that Johnson had written only one such ticket out of a total of 2,244 tickets between April 15, 2015 and May of this year.
Pierce, according to the affidavit, then told investigators, “I mean, you can see the guys not on the crosswalk, but in the same sense it doesn’t really fit … he’s not causing traffic disturbance.”
A Boston attorney listed in court records as representing Johnson could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
The Caledonian Record reported that an attorney for Johnson had provided a statement Monday that said his client “is confident that, if given the time and grace to defend himself in a court of law, the community will agree that his conduct was both lawful and justified.”
Johnson, during an interview with the state police investigator, said that he had worked for the St. Johnsbury Police Department for the past 13 years, including as an instructor of lawful uses of force, the affidavit stated.
Asked by the investigator about the role of de-escalation during the incident with Stelzl, Johnson replied, according to Baker’s filing, that he tried to talk to him in a calm manner, adding, “Every escalation that happened was on, uh, his action.”
