Vermont Business Magazine In July 2022, the Vermont State Police completed its investigation into the June 17 use-of-force incident that resulted in significant injuries to Marshall Dean in Newfane. VSP treated the matter as an officer-involved shooting. Per standard protocol in such cases, state police turned over the full investigative file to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office for review.
The Attorney General’s Office has concluded its review and today directed the Vermont State Police to cite Sgt. Ryan Wood and Trooper Zachary Trocki of the Westminster Barracks on charges of misdemeanor simple assault and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. The Attorney General’s Office determined the use of force was not justified given the circumstances of the incident.
Trocki and Wood are scheduled to appear for arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro.
Following routine procedure when a use of force is under review by prosecutors, Trocki and Wood have been on paid administrative duty at the barracks since the incident. They have now been suspended, and will be off payroll following arraignment.
The Vermont State Police is unable to comment further at this time. The affidavit of probable cause will be filed with the court and made public following the arraignments. Members of the media should call the Court Clerk’s Office to confirm details of the hearings.
***Update No. 2, 1:50 p.m. Saturday, June 18, 2022***
The two troopers involved in this incident are identified as Sgt. Ryan Wood and Trooper Zachary Trocki, both assigned to the Westminster Barracks.
Sgt. Wood was hired as a trooper in 2012 and upon graduation from the Vermont Police Academy was assigned to the Rockingham Barracks. In 2016 he was assigned to VSP’s Narcotics Investigation Unit, and the following year was promoted to sergeant and transferred to the Westminster Barracks.
Trooper Trocki was hired in fall 2021 and assigned to the Westminster Barracks following his graduation from the academy in spring 2022. He is the trooper who deployed the bean-bag round in the course of this incident.
Wood and Trocki were the only troopers on scene at the time of the incident. Their photos are included with this release.
Following surgery at DHMC, Marshall Dean’s condition is reported to be stable.
***Update No. 1, 6:45 p.m. Friday, June 17, 2022***
The investigation into a Vermont State Police trooper’s use of force early Friday morning in the town of Newfane remains active and ongoing.
The incident occurred after state police were called at 2:15 a.m. to a home at 521 Vermont Route 30 in Newfane. The man who was injured is identified as Marshall Dean, 61, of Newfane. As of 6 p.m. Friday, he was undergoing surgery at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, for treatment of life-threatening injuries.
The two troopers involved in this incident have been placed on paid relief-from-duty status, per regular procedures following a critical incident, and their identities will be released the next day. To avoid potential or perceived conflicts of interest, the case is being investigated by the Major Crime Unit along with detectives assigned to field stations from outside the area where the incident occurred.
When the Vermont State Police investigation is complete, the case will be turned over per standard protocol to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the State’s Attorney’s Office for independent reviews of the use of force. The Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office has recused itself from the matter and referred the review to the Orleans County State’s Attorney’s Office.
No further information is available at this time.
***Initial news release, 8:40 a.m. Friday, June 17, 2022***
The Vermont State Police is investigating an incident that occurred overnight in the town of Newfane in which a man was injured after a state trooper struck him with a less-than-lethal round.
The situation began in the early morning hours when a homeowner called state police in Westminster to report that a guest in his home was acting irrationally and causing damage to the residence. When troopers responded, they found the man on the roof of the house. Attempts to de-escalate the situation were unsuccessful, and ultimately one trooper fired a bean-bag-type impact projectile, which struck the subject. Soon after being struck, the man slipped and fell about 15 feet to the ground. He was transported by ambulance to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and subsequently transferred to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, for treatment of significant injuries. The exact nature and extent of his injuries is unknown at the present time.
This incident is being investigated as an officer-involved shooting and includes detectives from the Major Crime Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Crime Scene Search Team, and troopers from the Field Force Division.
The investigation is in its infancy, and no additional details are currently available. State police will release the identity of the individuals involved and further information about the incident as the investigation proceeds.
Police ask that anyone with information that might assist investigators call the Westminster Barracks at 802-722-4600 or leave an anonymous tip online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.
MONTPELIER, Vermont (Monday, May 22, 2023) — Vermont State Police
