Bradford, Vt.
According to Adam Silverman, a spokesperson for Vermont State Police, Trooper Sean Brennan was suspended with pay at the same time as a probe began into the state police handling of an escape case.
Silverman said on Wednesday that state police could not comment on the reason for the suspension, including whether it is tied to the internal probe announced late Tuesday night.
That investigation is looking into the state police’s handling of the search for Everett Simpson, 41, after they learned on Friday from the Valley Vista treatment facility in Bradford that he fled the facility, including why troopers didn’t seek a warrant for his arrest or alert the public.
Simpson, 41, who had been facing criminal charges stemming from his September arrest in a car-chase case, was released on Jan. 3 after posting $3,000 bail so he could attend the treatment facility. A condition of that release required Valley Vista to notify state police if he fled the facility.
Over the weekend, according to court filings, Simpson abducted a woman and her 5-year-old child from the Mall of New Hampshire parking lot in Manchester, drove her to Vermont, and forced her into a hotel room in White River Junction, where he sexually assaulted her.
In a statement late Tuesday night that also provided a timeline of state police actions in the case, Silverman said an investigation is underway to determine why troopers didn’t seek a warrant for Simpson’s arrest or alert the public after receiving notice on Friday that he fled Valley Vista.
Federal authorities filed federal kidnapping charges against Simpson on Monday following his arrest Sunday in Pennsylvania. He was taken into custody in that state after crashing in a car chase. He currently is held on $1 million bail in Pennsylvania, and it’s not clear when he will be returned to Vermont to face the kidnapping charges.
“The Vermont State Police has determined that there were additional steps that should have been taken,” Silverman said in an email issued late Tuesday night, “including seeking an arrest warrant on Friday night, Jan. 4; issuing a ‘be on the lookout’ alert for Simpson; and issuing a news release informing the public about Simpson.”
The ABC television station, Local 22 WVNY, reported on Tuesday evening that local and state police weren’t made aware that Simpson had left the treatment facility in Bradford until after they learned of an alleged sexual assault he committed on Saturday in Vermont.
“Bradford rehab center failed to report kidnapping suspect was missing,” read the headline of the TV’s station report.
The television station quoted an email from Silverman that stated, “The Vermont State Police received no notification that Everett Simpson had left the facility.”
However, later Tuesday evening, Silverman issued a statement saying that Valley Vista had indeed informed authorities that Simpson was not at the facility.
“As the manhunt for Simpson unfolded, initial information available to Vermont State Police investigators did not show that Valley Vista had notified police as required,” Silverman wrote in the later statement.
“However,” he added, “on Tuesday evening, Jan. 8, state police learned that Valley Vista had made a report late Friday … that Simpson had left the facility in violation of his court-ordered conditions. The timeline and circumstances surrounding that notification and how state troopers responded is currently under investigation by the Vermont State Police.”
In a subsequent release on Tuesday night, state police provided a timeline of their Simpson. According to the timeline:
■Thursday, Jan. 3, 7:26 p.m. — Simpson posts bond and is released from Department of Corrections custody with a court-ordered condition that he report to the Valley Vista.
■Thursday, Jan. 3, 10:59 p.m. — Simpson arrives at Valley Vista.
■Friday, Jan. 4, 9:47 p.m. — Vermont State Police dispatch receives a complaint from Valley Vista that Simpson has left the facility. In response to the call, a trooper at the St. Johnsbury barracks speaks with the caller from Valley Vista and learns that Simpson has not been seen since 8:30 p.m.
“The trooper responds to the last known address for Simpson in St. Johnsbury but is unsuccessful in locating him,” the release states. “The trooper then receives additional information from Valley Vista, including the phone number Simpson had last called, but when the trooper called that number, it had been shut off.”
■Friday, Jan. 4, 11:38 p.m. — A police dog track was considered but determined not to be a viable option. The trooper was dispatched to handle another call.
■Saturday, Jan. 5, 12:56 a.m. — Before going off duty, the trooper emails other troopers in the barracks to update them about Simpson.
■Saturday, Jan. 5, 7:53 a.m. — Another trooper at the St. Johnsbury barracks receives a report of a stolen vehicle in the town of Newbury. A GPS device in the vehicle tracks it to New Hampshire, and Vermont State Police in St. Johnsbury issue a “be on the lookout” alert for the stolen vehicle.
■Saturday, Jan. 5, 8:37 a.m. — The vehicle is located unoccupied in a parking garage in Manchester, N.H., by local police.
■Saturday, Jan. 5, 4:30 p.m. — Valley Vista provides to Vermont State Police a description of the clothing Simpson was last known to be wearing to compare with surveillance photos from the location where the vehicle was found.
■Saturday, Jan. 5, 6:34 p.m. — Hartford police ask state troopers in St. Johnsbury to check a location in West Fairlee that may be connected to Simpson. While troopers are en route, a Vermont State Police supervisor in St. Johnsbury asks Hartford police about their investigation and learns Simpson is a suspect in a sexual assault in White River Junction.
■Sunday, Jan. 6, 3:22 a.m. — Hartford police obtain an arrest warrant for Simpson on suspicion of kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, interference with access to emergency services, aggravated operation without owner’s consent and violation of conditions of release.
■Sunday, Jan. 6, 10:54 a.m. — Hartford police formally request assistance from the Vermont State Police in their investigation related to the kidnapping and sexual assault in which Simpson has been identified as a suspect. Vermont State Police deploys multiple resources including Major Crime Unit, Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Tactical Services Unit and others.
■Sunday, Jan. 6, about 6 p.m. — Police in Upper Darby Township, Pa., take Simpson into custody following a vehicle pursuit.
Officials with Valley Vista did not return a phone call on Tuesday afternoon seeking comment.
St. Johnsbury Police Chief Tim Page said on Tuesday that he had checked with his dispatchers and his department had no record of a notification from Valley Vista.
He said he was surprised to learn that his department was listed as an agency to contact and suggested that it was probably a mistake on the court record, which he said might have meant to say the state police barracks in St. Johnsbury.
Simpson previously had been held on $20,000 bail following his arrest in September, according to police, following a vehicle theft, pursuit and aggravated assault on a Vermont state trooper in Lyndon.
However, on Jan. 2, Caledonia County Superior Court Judge Robert Bent approved a plan worked out with the prosecutor and Simpson’s defense attorney to allow him to attend the substance-abuse rehabilitation facility Valley Vista in Bradford.
Simpson was taken into custody on Sunday following a more than 24-hour manhunt across the Northeast.
He was arrested in Pennsylvania after a police chase in which he crashed into a utility pole, according to police.
He is being held on $1 million bail in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors in Vermont also charged Simpson with kidnapping.
According to a document filed in support of the federal kidnapping charges, a day before his arrest, on Saturday afternoon, Simpson allegedly forced a woman and her 5-year-old son into their car outside of the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester.
He then allegedly drove the vehicle to White River Junction where he then forced the woman to rent a room at a motel. He then sexually assaulted the woman in the room, according to police.
The woman and child were able to contact police to report the assault after he left the room, at which point the FBI, the Vermont State Police and the Hartford Police Department began a manhunt for Simpson.
Kraig LaPorte, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont, said on Tuesday that no timeline had been set for when Simpson would return to Vermont to face the federal charges.