ADDISON COUNTY — Vermont State Police in Addison County dealt with three impaired driving cases and a fatal two-car crash in the past week.

In the first incident, a trooper saw multiple motor vehicle violations on Route 7 near Dakin Road in Ferrisburgh shortly before midnight on Oct. 22, so he stopped the car. The officer identified the driver as Timothy J. Ely, 43, of Burlington and observed signs of impairment while speaking with Ely. Ultimately, the trooper cited Ely for driving under the influence (DUI) of drugs.

Then on Saturday, Oct. 25, troopers were patrolling South Middlebrook Roat in New Haven when, at a few minutes before 10 p.m., they saw a vehicle make several violations and stopped it. Again, the officer saw signs of impairment in the driver, identified as Scott A. Burnham, 54, of Vergennes and ended up citing Burnham for DUI, second offense.

The third incident wrapped up this week, but its roots stretched back to Oct. 16 when a trooper stopped a vehicle on Old Hollow Road near the intersection with Route 7 in Ferrisburgh just before 7 p.m. After discerning signs of impairment, the trooper cited Benjamin M. Collaro, 24, of Bristol for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or both.

Then on Oct. 27, troopers executed a search warrant on Collaro’s vehicle, where they said they found cocaine inside the car. To the DUI charge they added a citation for possession of cocaine.

On Oct. 26 at nearly a quarter after 1 p.m., troopers responded to Route 7 in Leicester for a report of a head-on collision involving two vehicles. Gillian Gero, 50, of Monkton was killed in the crash, and her husband, Thomas, 52, was critically injured. The driver and passenger in the other car, Jeremy, 51, and Lisa Nolette, 60, of Brandon also sustained life-threatening injuries. See a full story on this crash on Page 2A.