St Albans ,VT : Off-duty Burlington cop accused in DUI crash on Sunday night ,July 12th 2015

An off-duty Burlington police officer is facing drunk driving charges after a car crash in St. Albans.

Police say 30 year-old Leanne Werner crossed the center line on Lower Newton Road Sunday evening and collided with an on coming car. Werner, who lives in St Albans, suffered minor injuries. "She was walking around -- she refused treatment as far as I know," said St. Albans Fire Chief Harold Cross.

The driver of the other vehicle, 74 year-old Omer Martin -- also of St Albans -- is in the hospital listed in fair condition. His wife, 73 year-old Jane Martin was treated for a broken hand and released.

The Vermont State Police reconstruction team was called to the crash site to investigate. Burlington Police Deputy Chief Bruce Bovat says they were notified of the accident Sunday Night. "I can tell you that we were notified of the accident and Leanne Werner's involvement in it, that there were implications that there may be some criminal charges soon, so at that time, after a through discussion with the authorities in St. Albans, we notified -- reached out to Leanne to make sure she was ok, then put her on administrative leave," he said.

Officer Werner has been with the Burlington Police Department since 2011. The Department said they will be conducting a full internal investigation once St. Albans Police and Vermont State Police complete their work. "Of course the criminal process is probably most important at this time. We will wait and take our cues from the investigators up there -- where they stand -- and once they are done with the criminal investigation portion then we will take our lead from that and start our internal investigation," Deputy Chief Bovat said.

Three years ago Werner was off duty when she accidentally shot herself in the ankle while cleaning her pistol at home. She suffered minor injuries in that incident. Werner is the fourth Vermont police officer charged with drunk driving in 2015. She is also the second Burlington officer in trouble with the law this year. In March, officer Nathan Harvey was charged with domestic assault. He has since resigned from the force.

Deputy Chief Bovat says the result of the internal investigation into Werner could run the gamut from a written warning and counseling, to termination.

Source :
Off-duty Burlington cop accused in DUI crash