Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, Vermont (Department of Corrections).
A woman identified as Alicia M. Kelley is taking legal action against a police officer in Vermont, claiming he wrongfully issued a warrant for her arrest. The warrant was linked to an incident involving heroin sales that resulted in a deadly overdose.
The problem? He obtained a warrant for the wrong Alicia M. Kelley.
The lawsuit was submitted by Kelley to the U.S. District Court in Vermont on June 30. The issue stems from an event on June 8, 2018, when a 21-year-old woman suffered a heroin overdose in the restroom of a Dunkin’ location in Brattleboro, passing away three days afterward.
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Sgt. Greg Eaton from the Brattleboro Police Department, who is listed as the sole defendant, discovered that a former Dunkin’ employee named Alicia M. Kelley allegedly sold the victim the heroin connected to the fatal event. According to the lawsuit, a surveillance camera recorded the drug transaction, and a manager from Dunkin’ identified Kelley as the individual involved.
Nearly a year later, in May 2019, Eaton applied for and obtained a warrant for Kelley’s arrest. Eaton allegedly used a Department of Motor Vehicle’s database to identify the wrong Alicia M. Kelley. The women were born roughly five months apart in 1988. Kelley’s lawyers allege Eaton “did not attempt to confirm that he had the correct date of birth” for the suspect nor compare photos of the two women.
On July 13, 2022, some three years after the warrant was issued, the plaintiff Alicia M. Kelley, who was pregnant at the time, was at her North Troy home with her two children and parents when deputies from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office arrived to place her under arrest.
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Kelley “became distraught, panicked, and was brought to tears,” the lawsuit stated. Her parents told deputies there must be some mistake but their pleas did not change the outcome. The kids became “very upset,” according to the lawsuit. The sheriff’s office posted on social media about the arrest, her lawyer Brian R. Marsicovetere noted.
Cops transported Kelley to Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport on a $25,000 bond. She spent the night and a judge lowered her bond to $10,000 which her parents paid the day after her arrest, the lawsuit said. Once prosecutors realized the mistake, they filed a motion to vacate all of her bond conditions. The Alicia M. Kelley allegedly responsible for the drug overdose death remains wanted, per plaintiff lawyers.
The lawsuit is alleging unlawful seizure and is requesting unspecified punitive damages.
“Defendant’s actions were willful, wanton, and with reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s constitutional and common law rights as a citizen of the United States and resident of Vermont,” the lawsuit said.
Eaton’s lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment. He declined comment when reached by VTDigger which first reported on the suit.
