Video Shows Franklin County Deputy Kicking Handcuffed Suspect
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story, including the embedded video, may not be suitable for all viewers. The County Courier obtained unredacted video footage but opted to censor the suspect’s face in order to protect his identity. This decision was made because the story is not about the behavior of the suspect, but the behavior of the deputy.
ST. ALBANS: Almost 20 hours after the County Courier first reported on the suspension of a Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy, the Sheriff issued a statement on the matter, confirming that his second in command had been put on paid administrative leave following the “mistreatment” of a suspect in custody.
Captain of the Department, Deputy John Grismore, was placed on paid administrative leave after other Deputies reported the incident to Sheriff Roger Langevin, according to the statement from the Sheriff’s office.
The man in custody was cuffed behind his back, legs shackled to a bench, and left alone inside the evidence room at the Sheriff’s Department. The intoxicated man attempts to stand up and walk away from the bench, but stumbles and falls face first to the ground after the leg shackles become taut.
Two Deputies come to the man’s aid, assisting him back to the bench, and instructed the drunken man to stay seated. During this time the deputies tell the man that Rescue will be responding to check him for injuries. When the suspect does not comply, Grismore comes into view, and uses his foot to kick the man back to the bench, striking the man in his groin.
The man immediately calls Grismore out for kicking the suspect, and says Grismore has been caught on camera.
“You’re going to f**king kick me, you queer,” the suspect is heard saying.
Grismore again kicks the man in his groin, pushing him backwards again to the prisoners’ bench.
A female deputy steps between Grismore and the suspect, as Grismore walks away.
The suspect tells the female deputy that Grismore kicked him three times. “He’s so fucking in trouble.”
“Tell him to get away from me, get away from me,” the suspect says as Grismore approaches the subject to place a fabric bag over the man’s head.
Grismore can be heard accusing the man of spitting at Grismore, but the man was clearly too far away to spit at Grismore when Grismore first approached the suspect and kicked him back to the bench.
Two EMTs from AmCare show up a few minutes later to assess the suspect. The suspect tells the EMTs that he had been assaulted, and he wants to commit suicide. The suspect also asks to go to the hospital but was never transported for medical treatment. Instead, he was eventually taken to Northwest Correctional Center.
The man repeatedly tells the EMTs and the Deputies that he needs to urinate, but is not given the opportunity to do so for the duration that he was in the custody of the Sheriff’s Department- about another hour and 40 minutes, with a fabric bag ver his head.
The Sheriff’s Department released more than three hours of video footage related to the incident, including the initial response and arrest of the subject.
The suspect was in custody at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department headquarters in St. Albans Town when the incident occurred, according to the statement released Wednesday morning.
Langevin said his department has contacted the Vermont State Police to investigate the matter, and that investigation is in the initial stages.
Grismore had sought to become the next Franklin County Sheriff, and won his unopposed primary yesterday. Multiple last-minute write-in campaigns are still up in the air as write-in numbers are still being tabulated throughout the county.
Current Sheriff, Roger Langevin, had endorsed Grismore as the next Sheriff for Franklin County. It is unclear if Langevin has withdrawn that endorsement.
