Burlington police officers were dispatched to the scene of a potential kidnapping in the city’s Old North End last summer when patrol cop Jeffrey Baur came upon a car matching a witness’ description.
The driver attempted to flee but rammed the car into a pole near the sidewalk. Baur, meanwhile, hopped out of his cruiser, slammed his door shut and fired his gun, coming within inches of striking the two minors inside the other car.
The scene, captured by Baur’s body camera, lasted less than 30 seconds. The officer’s actions that day, according to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, were criminal.
“Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George also conducted an independent review of the incident and concurred with the filing of criminal charges based on Officer Baur’s actions during this incident,” the AG’s Office said in a statement.
Baur, 34, pleaded not guilty on Friday to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment. He was released on conditions that he avoid contact with the two juveniles who were in the car.
The charges, which carry a combined potential punishment of two years in prison, come more than six months after the August 10, 2025, shooting.
Baur’s attorney, William Vasiliou, questioned some of the information prosecutors relied on to charge his client but would not provide specifics.
“I think the benefit of the doubt, at a minimum, needs to be given to him that he was doing his job,” Vasiliou said.
This isn’t the first time Baur has sat at the defendant’s table in a court room. In June 2024, he pleaded guilty to negligent operation after he was caught driving a motorcycle nearly 100 miles per hour while off duty.
More than a dozen fellow police officers came to support Baur at Friday’s arraignment, including members of Burlington’s police union, which said it was “disheartened” by the AG’s decision to charge their colleague.
“He has been a fantastic officer for the agency over the years, and we’re fully supportive behind him,” said Padrick Hartnett, president of the Burlington Police Officers’ Association.
After the August shooting, Baur was placed on paid leave and later returned to an administrative role. But Baur will again be placed on paid leave while the criminal case plays out, interim chief Shawn Burke told Seven Days on Thursday.
The call that preceded the shooting came in around 12:40 a.m. from a witness who reported seeing a man grab a woman, shove her into a vehicle and drive off, according to a state police affidavit. The caller wasn’t sure of the make or model of the vehicle but said it appeared to be a white hatchback.
Within minutes, Baur had located a silver Nissan stopped in the middle of Prospect Hill, a dead-end road off North Prospect Street.
The two teens, who knew each other, would later describe for state police a scene similar to what the initial caller reported: They had been arguing in the car when one of them got out, prompting the other to follow her onto the street, grab her and place her in the back seat.
The young driver said he panicked when he saw the police lights and tried to turn the car around, only to get stuck on a pole. Baur’s shot came moments later, and the juveniles quickly stepped out of their car and got on the ground.
On the video, Baur can be heard saying “fuck” twice before his camera was muted.
Baur told state police detectives that he feared the driver was going to hit him with the car or flee the scene with a potentially kidnapped woman inside. He said he also saw the driver moving around and was concerned that he was armed. A search of the car turned up no guns.
Baur said he had intended to point his gun at the driver and give verbal commands to stop. But he’s not heard on video saying anything before the shooting.
As for why he ultimately shot at the car, Baur’s story has shifted over time.
He initially told detectives that he did not recall pulling the trigger and that he did not know whether it was accidental or “an unconscious thing,” the affidavit says.
But after state police gave Baur a chance to review his body camera footage, he said he believed that he had been hit by his own vehicle’s door as he attempted to close it, causing the gun to go off.
A law enforcement consultant, Eric Daigle, reviewed the camera footage at the request of prosecutors and said it clearly shows Baur’s door was closed by the time he pulled the trigger.
Meanwhile, Chase Vivori, a fellow Burlington officer who spoke with Baur immediately after the shooting, wrote in a report that Baur used the term “ND,” a common military phrase that stands for negligent discharge. In other words: human error.
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