Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, Vermont (Department of Corrections).
A woman named Alicia M. Kelley is suing a Vermont police officer after he allegedly issued a warrant for her arrest for selling heroin that led to a fatal overdose.
The problem? He obtained a warrant for the wrong Alicia M. Kelley.
Kelley filed the lawsuit in Vermont”s U.S. District Court on June 30. According to the suit, the origin of the mishap happened on June 8, 2018, when a 21-year-old woman overdosed on heroin in the bathroom of a Dunkin’ in Brattleboro. She died three days later.
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Brattleboro Police Department Sgt. Greg Eaton, who is the only defendant named in the suit, learned a former Dunkin’ employee named Alicia M. Kelley sold the victim the heroin that led to the fatal overdose. The drug deal was captured on surveillance camera and a Dunkin’ manager identified Kelley as the suspect, the lawsuit said.
Nearly a year later, in May 2019, Eaton applied for and obtained a warrant for Kelley’s arrest. Eaton allegedly used a Department of Motor Vehicle’s database to identify the wrong Alicia M. Kelley. The women were born roughly five months apart in 1988. Kelley’s lawyers allege Eaton “did not attempt to confirm that he had the correct date of birth” for the suspect nor compare photos of the two women.
On July 13, 2022, some three years after the warrant was issued, the plaintiff Alicia M. Kelley, who was pregnant at the time, was at her North Troy home with her two children and parents when deputies from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office arrived to place her under arrest.
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Kelley “became distraught, panicked, and was brought to tears,” the lawsuit stated. Her parents told deputies there must be some mistake but their pleas did not change the outcome. The kids became “very upset,” according to the lawsuit. The sheriff’s office posted on social media about the arrest, her lawyer Brian R. Marsicovetere noted.
Cops transported Kelley to Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport on a $25,000 bond. She spent the night and a judge lowered her bond to $10,000 which her parents paid the day after her arrest, the lawsuit said. Once prosecutors realized the mistake, they filed a motion to vacate all of her bond conditions. The Alicia M. Kelley allegedly responsible for the drug overdose death remains wanted, per plaintiff lawyers.
The lawsuit is alleging unlawful seizure and is requesting unspecified punitive damages.
“Defendant’s actions were willful, wanton, and with reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s constitutional and common law rights as a citizen of the United States and resident of Vermont,” the lawsuit said.
Eaton’s lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment. He declined comment when reached by VTDigger which first reported on the suit.
