State police probe Hartford, Vermont incident


Hartford, Vermont - June 8 - Police Chief Glenn Cutting requested the state police review after questions were raised about a police response on May 25 to the town home in Wilder of Wayne Burwell, a 34-year-old athletic trainer.

In an interview, Cutting said that a housekeeper who had entered Burwell's home called 911 and reported that a burglary appeared to be in progress, and that the home appeared ransacked.

Burwell told the Valley News that he has a medical condition — his body does not produce enough glucose — and that it sometimes causes him to lose consciousness. He said fell asleep hours before the 911 call, and did not hear his housekeeper knock on his door.

Police found Burwell naked and sitting on his toilet, handcuffed him and dragged out of the town home, according to accounts given to the Valley News by Burwell and a neighbor who witnessed the incident.

The handcuffs left a cut on Burwell's wrist that required two stitches to close. Burwell told the Valley News that he believes he was pepper-sprayed.

A retired New Jersey police officer who lives next door told the Valley News that officers appeared to have pepper-sprayed Burwell. The retired officer also said that he tried to tell officers that Burwell was the homeowner, and not a burglar, but was threatened with arrest by one of the officers.

In a press release, Hartford Police said they took Burwell into "temporary custody," before he was treated "for a known medical condition" by the Hartford Fire Department. Burwell has not been charged with any crime.

Hartford police have declined to provide more details about the incident. In response to requests from the Valley News, they have thus far refused to release a tape of the 911 call that led to the response, or other public records about the incident.



This post is from a longer article at:
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100608/NEWS02/6080353/...