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No trial for man who crushed 7 police vehicles with tractor

Man was angry about a pot possession arrest when he drove a tractor over six cruisers and a van owned by the Orleans County Sheriffs’ Department in 2012

Associated Press

NEWPORT, Vt. — A Vermont man accused of crushing seven sheriffs’ vehicles with a tractor two years ago won’t be prosecuted.

The Caledonian Record reports State’s Attorney Alan Franklin and defense attorney Chandler Matson agree that 36-year-old Roger Pion, of Newport, was insane at the time of the rampage.

Pion had pleaded not guilty. At one point, he was deemed incompetent to stand trial, and he was hospitalized in January. A later evaluation deemed him competent, and he is now treated outside a hospital.

Franklin said a hearing on his treatment would be conducted in about two months.

Police said Pion was angry about a marijuana possession arrest when he drove his father’s tractor over six police cruisers and a van owned by the Orleans County Sheriffs’ Department in August 2012, causing $300,000 in damage.

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