A Quechee man shot by police in May after he allegedly stole his mother’s car and led state police on a chase has been indicted in Merrimack County Superior Court on charges of receiving stolen property and possession of drugs.
Bryan Evans, 31, is accused of possessing or having under his control a quantity of cocaine and fentanyl, according to court documents. He also is charged with possessing his mother’s 2017 Toyota Camry, knowing it had been stolen.
Evans has pleaded not guilty to all of his charges in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Merrimack County Assistant Attorney George Stewart confirmed that his office brought the drug charges, but declined to comment on where the charge came from.
Evans was arrested on May 19 after state police engaged in a tense standoff with him on Interstate 89 in Hopkinton, N.H., that shut down the areas around Exit 6 southbound for several hours and ended with Evans being shot. He is facing charges of unauthorized use of a propelled vehicle, criminal threatening and disobeying a police officer from that incident, as well as burglary and larceny charges in Vermont stemming from when he allegedly broke into his mother’s home, grabbed her car keys and stole the vehicle, according to court records from Windsor County.
New Hampshire State Police located the car on I-89 in Sutton, N.H., but Evans refused to pull over, police said.
When he ultimately did stop, authorities said, Evans refused to obey commands to show his hands and “quickly pulled” them out of his jacket in a “two-handed, gun-style” fashion.
Three officers, including a New London police officer, shot at him. One missed, one officer’s gun malfunctioned, and one bullet fired by Trooper Michael Arteaga struck Evans in the leg, according to a preliminary report from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Although Evans was not armed, the state Attorney General’s Office found that the officers were legally justified in the shooting, the report states. Video footage of the incident captured by civilians was released by the Attorney General’s Office in late July.
Evans was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and discharged in June, according to court documents. He was released on a $40,000 personal recognizance bail during a Merrimack County Superior Court arraignment that same month, but was required to turn himself in to Vermont authorities upon his release.
Upon turning himself in, Evans was arraigned in Windsor Superior Court in late June, where he was released on conditions that he reside at his mother’s Quechee home. Evans, who was confined to a wheelchair during that arraignment, was not deemed a flight risk due to his family ties to the area, injuries and ongoing medical needs.
He has a status conference scheduled for Tuesday in Vermont.