ADDISON COUNTY — Vermont State Police had a pretty typical week, responding to several car crashes and issuing a drunken driving citation. The atypical part was a two-vehicle crash in Cornwall that resulted in the death of one driver.
Between Sept. 4 and 10, troopers:
•  On Sept. 6 at approximately 7:16 p.m. saw a black vehicle traveling south on Route 7, near Dog Team Road, in New Haven with an invalid inspection sticker. A trooper stopped the vehicle for this violation, identified the driver as Nathan Lavallee, 38, of Winooski, and cited Lavallee for driving with a criminally suspended license.
•  On Sept. 7 at approximately 5:13 p.m. cited Kelly McEvoy, 48, of Vergennes for driving with a criminally suspended license on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh.
•  On Sept. 8 at shortly before 1 a.m. stopped a motor vehicle on South Middlebrook Road in Waltham after observing several motor vehicle violations. Troopers screened driver Kylie Stevens, 39, of Weybridge for driving under the influence and cited her for DUI, second offense.
•  On Sept. 8 at approximately 6:41 p.m. responded to a two-vehicle crash on Route 17 near the intersection of Route 116 in Bristol. Police said that James Orvis, 53, of Starksboro and Cynthia Bean, 56, of Barre were both driving eastbound on Route 17 — Bean in front. Police report that when Bean applied the brakes Orvis’s Toyota Rav4 collided with the rear end of Bean’s GMC Sierra. Orvis was taken to Porter Hospital to be treated for minor injuries; his Toyota was totaled due to heavy front-end damage. Bean was unhurt. Neither alcohol nor drugs were a factor in the collision, troopers report.
Vermont State Police were assisted by the Bristol Police Department, Bristol Fire Department, and the Bristol Rescue Squad.
Police issued a $220 ticket to Orvis for following too closely.
•  On Sept. 9 at around a quarter to 4 p.m. responded to a crash on Route 125 in Cornwall, where a pickup truck driven by Deanne Rubright, 44, of Shoreham was struck by a utility truck driven by a Cornwall firefighter on the way to a call at Middlebury College. Rubright was killed in the crash. Police determined that the firefighter was not at fault. Read the full story in Section A.
•  On Sept. 10 at approximately 6:51 p.m. responded to a one-car crash on Route 7 near Greenbush Road in Ferrisburgh. Police report that Jamie Levis, 58, of Panton was driving a 1996 Honda Accord south on Route 7, and had just passed another vehicle heading south. As Levis merged back into the southbound lane, he lost control of his vehicle, and crashed off the west side of the roadway. Levis was treated at UVM Medical Center for minor injuries. The car was a total loss.
No other vehicles were involved in this crash.
Vermont State Police ask anyone who witnessed this incident to contact Cpl. LeBlanc at the New Haven Barracks, (802) 388-4919.
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Vermont State Police announced last week that the barracks responsible for coverage in the Addison County towns of Granville and Hancock is now overseen by a new commander — Lt. Barbara Kessler, who was formerly assistant staff operations commander at VSP headquarters.
Lt. Kessler has served in the state police for more than 21 years, graduating from the Vermont Police Academy in 1997 and beginning her career as a trooper at the Bradford Barracks. In 2000, she became the first woman to serve on the Vermont State Police Scuba Team and later joined the Crash Reconstruction Team, where she remains a member.
She becomes the third woman to command a Vermont State Police Field Station and is the only woman currently serving in that role.
A Vermont State Police field station commander is responsible for overseeing delivery of law enforcement services to the communities served by that station. The field station commander is the local representative of the Vermont State Police to the community it serves, and works with local officials and residents to address public safety and law enforcement concerns in their service area.
Contact Lt. Kessler at 802-234-9933 and [email protected].