White River Junction
The request came after other police officers raised questions about the conduct of the officer, who authorities haven’t publicly identified. An outside investigator hired by Hartford police prepared a report after reviewing the Sept. 14 incident involving 32-year-old Jeffrey Stroike, officials said on Tuesday.
“The question that the report poses is whether a physical encounter between one Hartford officer and Mr. Stroike, which other officers believed was unprofessional, rises to the level of criminal conduct,” Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill said on Tuesday, the day he received the report.
Cahill and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office will independently review the report prepared by retired Vermont State Police Detective Daniel Troidl, who operates a private investigation and consulting firm. Although he hasn’t had a chance to review the report, Cahill said the binder contains documents written by the officers who were there that night, as well as “digital media.”
There is video footage of the incident, and Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten is reviewing a public records request from the Valley News seeking a copy of it.
The suspect, Stroike, said he doesn’t remember all of the details from that night, but recalled waking up at the hospital, sore and with a “fat eyebrow.” He maintains he was “roughed up” and “choked” during the incident.
Police arrested Stroike around 10 p.m. on Sept. 14 after a woman called police and reported a man “passed out” in the middle of Route 5, according to an affidavit written by Hartford Police officer Eric Clifford.
Officers Clifford, Frederick Peyton and Logan Scelza responded to the call, and Clifford, who described Stroike as “highly agitated” and smelling of alcohol, took him into custody after he allegedly refused to comply with commands.
Stroike, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 165 pounds, was brought to the station and put in a holding cell, where he allegedly continued to “yell and curse” and kicked the holding cell door, cracking the cement around the frame and bending the lock, the affidavit states.
The Hartford Fire Department called Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center that night about Stroike’s behavior, and the staff in the emergency department “ordered” he be brought in for an evaluation because of an “unknown substance he had consumed,” according to the affidavit.
Hartford fire officials requested Stroike be sedated prior to transfer.
A separate affidavit filed by Francis Schippert, a Norwich Police officer who arrived to assist Hartford police both on scene and at the station, indicates the police officers devised a plan to restrain Stroike so he could be sedated by paramedics.
Schippert wrote that “officer Clifford would take Stroike’s left side, officer Scelza would take the right side, officer Peyton would use the ballistic shield to push Stroike to the wall if necessary, and officer (Christopher) O’Keeffe and I would secure Stroike’s leg in a nylon hobble.” Before the officers entered the cell, Stroike calmed down, kneeled and bent over a bench with his back to the officers, so they were able to restrain him “quickly,” the affidavit states.
Stroike, who was sweating profusely, wiggled free from the restraint, but the officers were able to restrain him a second time. It took three shots of sedation medication to subdue Stroike, according to Schippert’s affidavit.
In that affidavit, Stroike told police he wanted “paperwork to report police abuse.”
The affidavits made no mention of the alleged mistreatment, and information about the investigation was only made public in response to questions from the Valley News.
Messages left for the officers weren’t returned.
Kasten said on Monday that his department, with the help of an outside investigator, had launched an administrative investigation into “the performance and conduct of personnel” stemming from the incident. An administrative investigation evaluates an officer’s adherence to department rules, policies and procedures, but not whether the officer broke the law.
He declined to comment on specifics, but said, “I have concerns about conduct in this incident.”
Clifford is out on medical leave, but the leave isn’t related to Stroike’s arrest, Kasten said. According to the Hartford Police Department’s roster, Scelza is employed as a full-time patrol officer and O’Keeffe is a part-time patrol officer. Peyton left the department at the end of September.
Peyton was one of several officers sued in 2012 by then-Wilder resident Wayne Burwell for the alleged use of unreasonable force. That case was settled between Burwell and the two remaining officers — Peyton and Detective Kristinnah Adams — on Sept. 27, with the town paying $500,000.
Peyton submitted a letter of resignation on Aug. 31, and indicated his last day would be Oct. 13. At that time, Peyton had been “contemplating his career choice for some time,” Kasten said.
Peyton, however, submitted an “immediate resignation” on Sept. 29, Kasten said.
Stroike faces two misdemeanor charges: disorderly conduct for allegedly obstructing traffic on Route 5 and unlawful mischief for allegedly damaging the holding cell.
The latter would be dismissed if an officer was charged with misconduct, Cahill said. The former likely would go to diversion, he said.
Stroike failed to appear on Tuesday for his scheduled arraignment in Windsor Superior Court, and Judge Timothy Tomasi issued a warrant for his arrest. It wasn’t known if he had been picked up on that warrant on Tuesday.
Reached by phone on Monday, Stroike contended he was mistreated. The outside investigator did not interview him about what happened, according to Stroike.
Stroike doesn’t have a prior criminal record in Vermont. In Oklahoma, where he lived before recently moving to the Upper Valley, he has been arrested for driving under the influence, burglary, assault, obstruction of officers and public intoxication, according to Clifford’s affidavit and court records.
He currently works for a contractor in the Upper Valley, he said.
Hartford Town Manager Leo Pullar said he is aware of the investigation and commended the officers who spoke up about alleged misconduct. He said he authorized the hiring of an outside investigator at a cost that has yet to be determined.
“I do know that the Hartford Police Department has a reputation poorly earned over years and years and (Kasten) and I are trying to turn the corner,” Pullar said. “The good news that came out of this was it was reported to the police chief by one of the officers. If you read about professional organizations, one of the first signs … is when an organization starts to police and correct (itself).”
Cahill agreed.
“There will be pieces of this story that cannot be told on the record today and that will be told on a future date. The purpose of that is to preserve the integrity of the investigation,” he said. “One thing that is clear, even today, is that there has been a cultural shift for the better within the Hartford Police Department, that officers within their own ranks are coming forward to acknowledge unacceptable behavior when they see it. That progress is laudable.”
Cahill said he wasn’t sure when he and a representative from the state Attorney General’s Office would issue their findings. The chief of the Attorney General’s Office’s criminal division, John Treadwell, recently stepped down to become a Vermont Superior Court judge, which could slow the process.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.