The city of South Burlington has fired one of its police officers after State’s Attorney Sarah George has called into question his creditability.

Officer Cody Wilson, who was hired in March 2022 by South Burlington Police, was no longer employed as of Friday Nov. 7, according to its new Police Chief William Breault.

Under the South Burlington City Charter, the City Manager has the right to terminate employees.

The incident in question for Wilson apparently happened before Breault arrived to take the helm at South Burlington Police on Oct. 6.  George sent a letter dated Oct. 6 to Deputy Police Chief Sean Briscoe claiming Wilson had failed to be fully honest in a court affidavit.

“Wilson made a patently false statement in a probable cause affidavit and neglected to include exculpatory evidence which was in the possession at the time of writing the affidavit,” George maintained in her letter.

She said her office and the court relied on Wilson’s affidavit to charge Eric Loyer with multiple criminal offenses.  Loyer, 33, formerly of Bristol is a frequent defendant in criminal court and tends to run from police and be combative, court records show.

George said she won’t use Wilson as a witness ever again.

“This conduct significantly undermines the State’s ability to rely on his testimony.  Therefore I am unwilling to call him as a witness and will not accept any criminal cases from him going forward,” George wrote about Wilson.

The so-called Brady letter sent by a state prosecutor can be a career-ending document in some cases for police.  In other cases, Vermont police continue on in their careers. 

George asked South Burlington Police to add her letter to Wilson’s personnel file “so any future law enforcement agencies that he may apply to will have access to this information.” 

Attempts to reach Wilson, 36, of Fletcher were unsuccessful.

Attempts to reach the head of the South Burlington police union to see if the dismissal will be contested were unsuccessful.

Before getting hired in South Burlington, Wilson attended Bellows Free Academy and Castleton State College and had a military career that included the Army National Guard.

Wilson was among the South Burlington police officers honored this summer by the city during its annual recognition gathering.  Wilson was assigned to the patrol division and had become certified recently as a Drug Recognition Expert for detecting impaired drivers on the highway.

It was not immediately known how many criminal court prosecutions could be impacted by Wilson’s departure. 

One major case that he participated in was a fatal crash in Grand Isle that killed one motorcyclist and seriously injured his father, who was on a second motorcycle on Father’s Day.

Vermont State Police asked Wilson as a Drug Recognition Expert to go to the UVM Medical Center to check on the woman that they said drove her truck into the two motorcyclists.  

Wilson initially reported he saw no impairment for Ellen E. WIllson, 38, of St. Albans, court records show.  After consulting with a mentor/supervisor officer Wilson reconsidered his assessment and offered the opinion that she was impaired, records show.  Unfortunately, by that time Willson had been released from custody with a court citation. 

Willson initially pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court in North Hero to two felony charges: gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle with death resulting and gross negligent operation with serious bodily injury on Father’s Day.  She was released on conditions. 

Grand Isle State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito, based on new information, later filed a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter, records show.  Willson denied the charge.

DiSabito said last week that he does not need Wilson to prove the current charges. 

Vermont State Police did locate two witnesses about possible impairment, records show.  One woman wrote on the WCAX Facebook, “They should have taken a blood draw she as wasted when she asked me for a ride which I was unable to do.”

Veteran State Trooper Seth Boudreau tracked the witness down to a residence in Alburgh in August and she confirmed the statement.  The woman said she had never met Willson before and she was asking for a ride, Boudreau wrote.

A second person, who did provide Willson a ride, said, based on his experience on a rescue squad, he believed she was on drugs, Boudreau’s new affidavit said.

Vermont State Police have said Willson killed Hunter Rounds, 20, of Grand Isle in a head-on crash when her southbound truck crossed the double yellow line on U.S. 2 in North Hero near Savage Point Road on June 15.

Jason Rounds, 51, of Grand Isle, who was on a second motorcycle, was seriously injured in the 1:45 p.m. crash. He was taken to the UVM Medical Center in Burlington with multiple injuries, according to Boudreau, a member of the State Police Crash Reconstruction Team.

Jason Rounds underwent several surgeries and was eventually discharged, officials said.