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1. Adding to the pathetic legacy of the Rutland police dept. is the shooting that occurred a few days earlier. On July 3rd 2023 Sgt. Andrew Plemmons shot a couple Massachusetts youths in the back as they drove away from him. The coward cop had the nerve to say they were trying to hit him – as they drove away, and as he, fired bullets into their backs. Thankfully for Rutland PD an even bigger story popped up a few days later – the completely unnecessary death of rookie cop Jessica Ebbighausen (who never should’ve been hired in the first place).
   This bigger SNAFU temporarily offered the pitiful police department a couple more years of denial and self-aggrandizement. The community rallied around the fallen soldier (a teenage girl who looked like she could lift 20lbs max), complete with parades, yard signs and endless Facebook posts. The scapegoat became the hideous loser who prompted the (uncalled for) high speed chase in the first place.
   Now, 3 years on (!!! insane how delayed Vermont is) the coward cop Plemmons is being charged with felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless endangerment, and the dip-thong “chief” has resigned in disgrace. At what point do we just accept reality and say; ‘these bozos are giving us a bad name, we need to raise our standards’? I’m guessing never. Who is going to set the bar when state-wide this the state of “authority”?

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   • Nothing you say has any basis in fact.

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   • Tim,

     Please acknowledge Larry’s pro-police bias when reading his comment. He’s one of Rutland’s many back scratchin good ol boys and has recently served as a Rutland city police commissioner.

     Sometimes backing the blue isn’t always in everyone’s best interest.

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2. The nutcase who CAUSED the fatal accident that killed officer-in-training Jessica Ebbighausen was a serious threat to the public. It was completely justified to engage in his apprehension. Officer Ebbighausen was not actually engaged in the pursuit but was responding to the area and was hit head-on by the scofflaw in his zeal to escape the situation. It could have been anyone who was hit by that nut, but it was an officer who was engaged in the course of her duty who was unfortunately the victim.

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   • Rich,
     Your comment leads me to believe you have a misunderstanding of what happened that day. Read the report if you’d like a clearer understanding.

     “It is at this critical moment the decisions Dumas made lead him to violate the pursuit policy. Dumas at this point did not have any more probable cause to arrest Rheaume than he did the moment he arrived to find Rheaume inside of the residence. The courts have said just mere flight from law enforcement does not in and of itself increase or create the criminal aspects of cases without other corroborating evidence. Rheaume fled on foot when he heard the word charges. Dumas was not told at this point by Baker that she wanted Rheaume arrested. Even if Baker had told Dumas that she did want him arrested, the only criminal action that would have been appropriate at this moment was an unlawful trespass based on what was known at this time. Dumas did not have any evidence of a fresh break in, did not have any evidence Rheaume had stolen or damaged anything while inside, or violated any kind of court orders, and did not have any evidence that Rheaume was armed or made any threats. Up to this point, Rheaume was cooperative with Dumas.”

     https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/f9/6f/a6381e824efdb247b38772f01190/exhibit-a-rcpd-internal-admin-investigation-report.pdf

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