RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – Rutland’s mayor is defending the city’s police department after the recent discovery of an internal investigation concluded that 19-year-old officer Jessica Ebbighausen’s death during a July 2023 pursuit was preventable.
Jessica Ebbighausen, a trainee with the department, was working only her fifth shift when she died during a police pursuit after a man under police investigation, Tate Rheaume, crashed into her cruiser head-on. She was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.
Rheaume is charged with aggravated murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence. A trial isn’t expected until sometime next year.
Former Rutland city police commander Sam Delpha’s 9-page investigation concluded that Ebbighausen’s supervisors should have done more to keep her safe.
The report — and its premature release — is now drawing the ire of the Vermont Police Association. “I find it difficult to understand why the internal affairs report appears to have been completed before the criminal prosecution reached its conclusion, possibly jeopardizing the integrity of the case,” the association’s Chris Hoar said in a statement.
City documents reveal the internal investigation began in November of 2024, more than a year after the July 2023 crash. But the report only came to light after Tate Rheaume’s attorney requested it from the court, making it a public document.
“Because it could affect the court case, creating, as our police chief says, creating witnesses. However, I do think that there was a bit of an oversight by not sharing it with the police commission,” said Rutland Mayor Mike Doenges.
Rutland Police Chief Brian Killcullen apologized to the Police Commission at their latest meeting for keeping the findings under wraps.
The mayor says that omission isn’t expected to diminish city support for the department. “We have an amazing police department. And no one on that PD and no one in this city holds those officers responsible in a way that’s inappropriate,” Doenges said. “The awareness immediately after the accident, there was awareness of what some of the issues may have been. And it’s already been addressed in multiple ways,” Doenges said.
Police commission members we spoke to said they don’t believe the report will impact future training.
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