Alleged shooter arraigned
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By Brent Curtis Staff Writer - Published: November 11, 2009
A nearly daylong search for a firearm allegedly used by a man accused of shooting at a city police officer came to an end when investigators found a semiautomatic handgun with a spent round jammed inside the chamber.
The firearm, a loaded .45-caliber Taurus PT945 handgun, was found in a pool of water where 22-year-old Tyshawn Plowden allegedly fled Sunday night after police say he fired a single shot at Officer Frank Post. Information about the recently discarded firearm was a key detail in an affidavit filed by state police investigators in Rutland District Court on Tuesday.
Plowden pleaded innocent Tuesday to a felony charge of aggravated assault with a weapon against a law enforcement officer.
During his arraignment, which was attended by detectives from the Rutland Police Department and State Police, Plowden's court-appointed public defender said Plowden reserved his right to argue for reduced bail at a later date.
Plowden is charged with firing a shot Sunday night at Post, who told state police investigators he and his dog, King Bricks, were chasing Plowden on Park Street when the shooting took place. Post said he fired once in return before seeking cover. No one was injured in the shooting.
Police were tight-lipped about the incident on Monday when forensic teams spent much of the day scouring the Howard Center Park Street Program campus and the grounds around it on Park Street.
An affidavit filed in court by state police Detective Francis LaBombard on Tuesday shed more light on the details of the incident — including investigators' discovery of the firearm.
LaBombard said Post and Cpl. Andrew Todd were called to the southwest section of the city at around 10 p.m. Sunday for a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area.
Todd stopped a car with license plates that didn't match the vehicle near the intersection of Granger and Park streets. Post arrived shortly after to back Todd up. Four people were in the car. No one except Plowden has been charged in the incident.
While Todd was speaking to the driver, Post said he saw the black handle of a handgun protruding from Plowden's waistband.
Plowden, who was a passenger in the rear of the car, was ordered out at gunpoint, but the officers said he fled on foot in the direction of the Howard Center. Post and King Bricks gave chase and Post said he released the German shepherd to stop Plowden.
But just as the dog was lunging, Post said Plowden turned to the left and fired a single shot in his direction. LaBombard said Post knew the direction that Plowden fired because he could see an orange muzzle flash from the gun.
Post told investigators that he returned fire a single time before seeking cover. In that time, Plowden allegedly ran into a wooded area north of the Howard Center.
Post told investigators he waited for backup before attempting to track the gunman. More than 12 hours later police arrested Plowden in an apartment at 149 Granger St. Investigators did not say how they traced Plowden to that location or why he went there. LaBombard could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Plowden, who was unarmed when police found him, was arrested without incident.
At 4:45 p.m. on Monday, a state police detective found the discarded handgun in shallow water near an area where Plowden was seen running, LaBombard said. The handgun, which police say was recently discarded, had an empty brass casing jammed in the chamber.
State police involvement in the case came at the behest of Police Chief Anthony Bossi who asked for an investigation by an outside agency.
The gunfire has also prompted involvement by the Vermont Attorney General's office, which reviews all police shootings in the state to determine whether the use of force in each case is justified. The legal standard of review for use of deadly force is whether the officer reasonably believed that he or a third party was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury and that deadly force was an appropriate response.
If convicted of the felony charge, Plowden could be sentenced to up to 16 years in jail.
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
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