BETHEL, Vermont (Friday, March 8, 2024) — The Vermont State Police is identifying the trooper involved in this morning’s car crash on Interstate 89 in Bethel as Cpl. Eric Vitali, a 19-year veteran of the state police.
Cpl. Vitali is receiving treatment at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, for serious injuries.
Initial investigative work by the Vermont State Police indicates Cpl. Vitali, a trooper assigned to the Royalton Barracks, was traveling Friday morning to a first-aid training at VSP Headquarters in Waterbury. He was driving in the left-hand, passing lane of I-89 beyond the Bethel exit at about 8:30 a.m. when his cruiser struck the back of a Bethel Volunteer Fire Department tanker truck that was parked in the passing lane to provide scene protection for a crash that had occurred at about 7:40 a.m. The force of the impact between the cruiser and the fire truck was significant and indicates the cruiser was traveling at highway speeds when the crash occurred. Cpl. Vitali was wearing his seat belt. The fire truck was unoccupied, and no one else was injured.
The initial crash involved a Freightliner box truck for People’s Linen Service of Keene, New Hampshire, driven by Matthew Black, 33, of Keene. According to the Enforcement Division of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, the primary law-enforcement agency assigned to the initial crash, the box truck was northbound in the right-hand, travel lane when the driver swerved suddenly to avoid a slower-moving tractor-trailer unit. The driver lost control of the box truck, which rolled onto its side before coming to a position of rest in the median adjacent to the northbound passing lane. The driver was uninjured and declined medical attention. The Bethel fire truck was part of a response that also included cones and flares to alert motorists to the crash ahead and the closure of the passing lane, requiring vehicles to merge right into the travel lane.
The northbound lanes of I-89 were closed for about six hours. The cause of the crash involving Cpl. Vitali remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Royalton Barracks at 802-234-9933.
Cpl. Vitali, 41, joined the Vermont State Police in summer 2005. Following his graduation from the Vermont Police Academy that November, he was assigned as a trooper to the Rockingham Barracks. He was promoted to corporal in July 2020. His assignments have included the Westminster and Royalton field stations. He is currently a member of the Critical Action Team, Underwater Recovery Team and the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program, and he also serves as a firearms instructor. He previously was a member of the Tactical Services Unit.
Additional information is unavailable at this time. The state police will provide updates as the investigation continues.
***Initial news release, 11:15 a.m. Friday, March 8, 2024***
WCAX: Vermont State Police identify trooper hospitalized after I-89 crash
A on-duty Vermont State Police trooper was involved in a car crash Friday morning, March 8, 2024, on Interstate 89 in the town of Bethel.
The crash happened at about 8:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes just north of the Bethel exit when a marked VSP cruiser struck a fire truck that was stopped on the highway after responding to a previous slide-off.
The trooper was airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The extent of his injuries is unknown at this time. An investigation into the crash is in its earliest stages.
No additional details are currently available. The Vermont State Police will provide updates as soon as more information can be shared with the public.
