By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

First published in the Caledonian-Record.

Three of the six Vermont State troopers placed on paid administrative leave from the St. Johnsbury barracks recently have been allowed to return to work, but the station commander has been reassigned to headquarters.

Lt. Owen Ballinger, a 25-year state police veteran, was quietly moved to headquarters in Waterbury as of Jan. 14 and is now listed as the administrative services coordinator.

Lt. Chuck Winn, who previously served in the Northeast Kingdom, has been named to head the St. Johnsbury barracks.  Winn was transferred from the Berlin barracks, where he was most recently the station commander for Central Vermont.

Vermont State Police have offered limited comments about the series of events that led to six uniform troopers being sidelined by Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison.

One state trooper, David Garces, was reportedly involved in a vehicle pursuit the weekend before Christmas.  After state police leaders returned from the holiday break, Garces was placed on paid leave on Dec. 27, according to Vermont News First, which broke the story.

As the internal investigation unfolded, five other troopers working the night of the incident, were placed on paid leave on Jan. 5.

State Troopers Colin Connery, Elisabeth Plympton and Luke Rodzel were allowed to return to work recently.

Garces, and Troopers Gabriel Schrauf and David Wicks remain on paid leave, department spokesman Adam Silverman said Tuesday.

When placed on paid leave, troopers must surrender their gun, badge, credentials, computer, cruiser and department cellphone.

While the VSP initial investigation may have focused on adherence to department policies dealing with vehicle pursuits and use of spike strips to deflate tires of unresponsive drivers, the probe delved into subsequent conduct, according to a department source that is unauthorized to publicly speak about the incident.

The internal investigation would include statements from the troopers and the video from their body and cruiser cameras, a person familiar with the VSP Internal Affairs Office told Vermont News First.

Part of the problem may have been there was no patrol commander/sergeant on the night shift for the St. Johnsbury barracks during the pre-Christmas event that led to Garces being benched.

The case reportedly started as a possible domestic abuse complaint that began in Vermont and later moved into the Haverhill, N.H. area. during the night of Dec. 22 and early morning hours of Dec. 23, police said.

As part of the investigation, Vermont News First was told the case also included the arrest of a Newbury man on Dec. 23 for charges of driving while intoxicated with drugs, resisting arrest and violating the conditions of release from an earlier criminal case, according to state records.

Vermont State Police reported Timothy Kearney, 31, of Newbury  was arrested following a traffic stop on Interstate 93 in Waterford about 3:22 a.m. Dec. 23.

Trooper Garces said in a news release the day of the incident that Kearney displayed signs of impairment during the traffic stop and he was arrested for suspected DUI-drugs.  Kearney resisted arrest during the stop, Garces said, but did not elaborate.

Garces said Kearney was processed at the local state police barracks and issued a court citation ordering him into Vermont Superior Court in St. Johnsbury on March 4.  He was later released into the custody of the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility, Garces wrote.

Vermont State Police have combated the staffing shortage in St. Johnsbury and its satellite office in Bradford by bringing in troopers from surrounding barracks to work their regular shift, SIlverman said. In addition, some troopers worked overtime assignments as needed to fill staffing, Silverman maintained.

The St. Johnsbury barracks covers all of Caledonia County, much of Orange County and the southern half of Essex County, although the department contracts with the Essex County Sheriff’s Department to handle many of the calls for service.  He patrols more than 200 miles of Interstate highways and state roads, along with hundreds of miles of local town roads.

Ballinger had served as the acting station commander in St. Johnsbury from August 2021 until his promotion in May 2022.

He was hired in February 1999 and upon graduation from the Vermont Police Academy that June was assigned as a trooper at the St. Johnsbury Barracks. He transferred that fall to the Derby Barracks, where he worked until joining the Traffic Safety Division in 2007. He earned a promotion to sergeant with Traffic Safety in 2016 before becoming a patrol commander first at the St. Johnsbury Barracks and then in Derby in 2020. 

Ballinger also served on the Emergency Services Unit from 2016-20, is a member of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program, operates sonar with the SCUBA Team, and has served since 2006 on the Crash Reconstruction Team, which he currently commands.