The City of Burlington will pay a $270,000 settlement to the estate of a New North End man shot and killed by police in 2013.
Wayne Brunette was holding a long-handled shovel when former Burlington cop Ethan Thibault shot and killed the mentally disturbed man outside of his parents’ Randy Lane home. Brunette’s wife, Barbara, filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit in 2015.
The court cleared Thibault and another responding officer, Brent Navari, of wrongdoing but maintained that the city “failed to reasonably accommodate Mr. Brunette’s mental disability,” according to a police department press release issued Tuesday. The case was headed for trial this fall, but the city agreed to the settlement during mediation in April “without an admission of liability,” the release said.
Thibault resigned from the Burlington Police Department in 2016. Navari is still on the force.
In a statement, Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said he hopes the settlement brings “a modicum of closure” to the Brunette family. Wayne Brunette’s parents, Ruthine and Lawrence, witnessed the incident from their front doorway.
“Our approach to these types of crises has evolved, and our capacity to safely handle them has multiplied, but we can never guarantee that force won’t be necessary to protect life in these encounters,” del Pozo said. “Our commitment, however, is to do everything we can to avoid such a tragic outcome.”
Before Thibault shot Brunette, a Burlington police officer hadn’t fired a gun in the line of duty in 16 years. But three years later, in 2016, a Queen City cop shot and killed 76-year-old Phil Grenon, a paranoid schizophrenic wielding a knife, after a five-hour standoff. Prosecutors determined the shooting was justified.
News of the Brunette family settlement comes at a time when the Burlington Police Department is facing public scrutiny for recent incidents of alleged excessive force. Officer Cory Campbell is currently on administrative duty for punching Douglas Kilburn, a 54-year-old physically disabled man whose death was ruled a homicide, in March.
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan told reporters Tuesday that Vermont State Police had finished their investigation of the violent confrontation and referred the case to his office.
“No timeline. We have the investigation and we are reviewing it,” Donovan said at an unrelated press conference in Burlington.
Two other Burlington cops, Sgt. Jason Bellavance and Officer Joseph Corrow, have been sued for excessive force after knocking two young black men unconscious in separate incidents last fall. Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington has called for the city to fire the officers.
Del Pozo has promised a review of the city’s use-of-force policy.
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*Our approach to these types of crises has evolved, and our capacity to safely handle them has multiplied, but we can never guarantee that force wont be necessary to protect life in these encounters, del Pozo said. Our commitment, however, is to do everything we can to avoid such a tragic outcome.*
Evolved with greater capacity in the sense that two more men suffering mental health crises have been killed by officers since Del Pozo became chief? In 2018 when Seven Days wrote about the lawsuit and how two witnesses contradicted the officers (one of whom, Thibault, was later accused of domestic assault) Del Pozo was silent.
https://sevendaysvt.com/vermont/after-poli…
Taxpayers foot the $200k bill while the family has to pick up the pieces after this murder, violent officers are protected by a token police commission with wrist slaps, all while our police chief that endorsed violence against Douglas Kilburn but yeah, sure, deescalation training and no citizen oversight is definitely working.
If you believe that any meaningful policing changes will occur under this chief or mayor, I have a bridge to sell you.
Thibault was such a p*ssy that day. Brent Navari was level-headed in the situation.
Want to see real change at the Burlington PD? Let’s pay del Pozo $200K/yr. but make the settlements for his officers run amok come directly from him . . Perhaps then we’d see a more sincere commitment to changing use of force in the department.
Horrific for the family. Closure? Get real
Taxpayers*
Since del Pozo has become the chief of police things have gone downhill
“Taxpayers foot the $200k bill”
Nope, it was probably an insurance policy.
“after this murder”
It was not “murder.”
Jesus, the things some people say.
Youre right knowyourassumptions! I stand corrected – instead we just have higher insurance premiums, losing tens of thousand of dollars for staff and attorney fees, and an innocent man was murdered. Yes, murdered. Would you prefer manslaughtered? What word would you use?
I’m shocked there is so much police brutality there in Vermont. And it sickens me to watch the police body cam videos and hear the officer(s) suddenly remember they’re on video and say stupid lying things such as: “stop resisting, stop resisting” to a man who’s head has just been thrown against a wall and the man is lying there like a sack of potatoes. I hate seeing such gimmicks in action, like the one where the police officer says in a written statement – “I was in fear the accused would assault me…” Right. I would like to believe Vermont police are there to protect people and promote community, but- the officers in these videos aren’t friendly community-minded cops at all. Why is that? When the chief of police fired the officer who punched a young woman in the eye, he spoke enlightenedly about the matter, but that enlightenment needs to extend to his officers through courses and training. Vermont police departments need to update and establish their police culture, for sure.
can’t you folks preserve the message a person writes here, without erasing the whole thing when they sign in? sheesh!!!
Vermont police should not be allowed to behave so badly, conduct unbecoming an officer, as seen in these videos, they act like ;they’re in Hicksville. Police officers should be protecting people and promoting community, not brutalizing people. The police departments need to have training and classwork to change from the old ways to develop a more productive police culture. Otherwise, they’re just going to keep incurring more lawsuits and costing taxpayers more money to be brutalized by the police.