Troopers run over man on Route 100
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By Susan Smallheer Rutland Herald - Published: December 10, 2007
WEST DOVER — An autopsy will be performed Monday on a 22-year-old Dover man whose body was hit by two different Vermont State Police troopers early Sunday morning on Route 100.
Vermont State Police said Gerald "Gerry" Peterson of Dover died Sunday morning, although police said Peterson's body was lying in the southbound travel lane of Route 100 when the unidentified troopers hit him during the early morning hours.
Tracy Kelly Shriver, the Windham County state's attorney, said Sunday investigators would know a lot more after the autopsy, which was set to be performed today in Burlington at the office of the chief medical examiner.
But Shriver refused to classify the investigation into Peterson's death as a hit-and-run or even a homicide.
"The matter is still under active investigation, and it's too early to tell" whether Peterson's death involved a crime, Shriver said, adding she was at the scene by 4:30 a.m., along with Lt. Rick Hopkins, the commander of the Brattleboro barracks of the state police. Shriver, along with the state police, declined to identify the troopers involved in the accident.
Police had called the investigation either an "unattended" or "untimely" death.
Mike Behringer, the owner of the Dover Bar & Grill on Route 100, said Peterson had worked for him for the past two nights in a try-out, and that he had planned on hiring him.
"I don't know much about him, but Gerry seemed like a nice kid to me," Behringer said, adding he had only met him about three weeks ago. Peterson, who was training to be a cook, had moved to Vermont from the Albany, N.Y., area, he said.
Behringer said he had been told by his staff that Peterson got off work around midnight and left, but later returned at around 2 a.m. Sunday. He left the restaurant about 10 minutes later, heading south on Route 100 on foot, apparently toward his apartment, which was about two miles away. He said Peterson was hit about six-tenths of a mile south of his business.
Behringer said Peterson did not have a car.
He also said there were several police officers in the area Sunday, as well as in the Mount Snow area Saturday night conducting a drunken driving checkpoint.
Behringer and a few of his employees were questioned by a detective from the Vermont State Police on Sunday, he said, and that police wanted to know if Peterson had any injuries when they last saw him, which was less than an hour before he was struck by the two Vermont State Police troopers.
The Vermont State Police search team was at the Route 100 scene near the 7-Eleven store on Route 100, south of the Mount Snow ski area.
The highway, which is normally busy on the weekends during ski season, was closed for the Vermont State Police investigators. Traffic was diverted along Handle Road and other routes. The road was reopened around 3:30 p.m.
A clerk at the gas station and convenience store said she didn't know anything about the accident and hung up.
State police said the two troopers had just gotten off a traffic detail in Dover village at 2:50 a.m. and were heading south when the first trooper saw Peterson and swerved to try and avoid him, but hit him. The trooper radioed to the second trooper, who was following. But the second trooper was not able to avoid Peterson's body and also hit him, police said. Police said the accident occurred on a curve on Route 100, affecting the troopers' view of the body on the roadway. Both troopers returned to the scene and secured the area, waiting for investigators.
Also involved in the investigation was the Dover Police Department, Shriver said, including Chief Bobby Edwards and Detective Rich Warner.
Police have made an appeal to anyone who may have seen something on Route 100 between the hours of 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. to call the Vermont State Police Rockingham barracks at 875-2112.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com.
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