A Vermont police officer was killed Friday following a pursuit of a burglary suspect that ended in a crash, according to Vermont State Police.
Jessica Ebbighausen, 19, of Ira, was a part-time member of the Rutland City Police Department. She had started working for the department May 23 and was scheduled to attend the Vermont Police Academy next month to become a full-time officer, according to a press release.
At 2:35 p.m. Friday, Rutland police received a call about an attempted break-in at a home on East Washington Street, police said. At 2:51 p.m., the suspect, later identified by police as Tate Rheaume, 20, fled the scene in a truck and Officer Jared Dumas, who had arrived on scene, pursued him.
The pursuit continued from East Washington Street to Stratton Road and further to the intersection with Woodstock Avenue. Meanwhile, other police officers were responding to the area, including Ebbinghauser, who was driving a cruiser with a supervising full-time officer, Richard Caravaggio, in the passenger seat east on Woodstock Avenue, followed by a second cruiser.
At about 2:53 p.m., police say Rheaume crossed the center line into the eastbound lanes and collided with Ebbighausen’s cruiser, then struck the second cruiser behind hers, driven by Officer Kelsey Parker.
Both Rheaume’s truck and Ebbighausen’s cruiser received “catastrophic damage” in the crash, police said. The cruiser that was pursuing Rheaume was not involved in the crash.
Ebbighausen died at the scene, police said. Caravaggio, Parker and Rheaume were injured and brought to Rutland Regional Medical Center for treatment, where the officer who was in the car with Ebbighausen remained hospitalized until Saturday.
Nearly three dozen Vermont law-enforcement officers and first responders escorted Rutland City Police Officer Jessica Ebbighausen’s body in a procession on Saturday, July 8, 2023, along U.S. Route 7 from the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington back to the city she served as a part-time officer since May 23, and where she planned to embark on a career as a full-time police officer starting next month with training at the Police Academy. (Vermont State Police)ADAM SILVERMAN/VERMONT STATE POLICE
The Vermont Chief Medical Examiner determined that Ebbighausen’s death was caused by blunt force trauma. Her body was escorted by nearly three dozen Vermont law enforcement officers and first responders from the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington back to Rutland on Saturday.
An investigation showed that neither Ebbighausen or Caravaggio were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
Rheaume has been charged with grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle with death resulting and attempting to elude with death resulting. He remained at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, where he was in serious but stable condition Saturday afternoon, police said. He was granted $500,000 bail and will be arraigned Monday in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Rutland.
“We’re hurting right now,” said Rutland City Police Chief Brian Kilcullen on Friday as he asked for community support, according to the Rutland Herald.
Ebbighausen had wanted to be a police officer since she was 9 years old, Kilcullen said. She did an internship with the police department during high school, he said.
“She always had a smile on her face,” Kilcullen said. “We were looking forward to having her as part of our family.”
The department had recently changed its policies to discourage high-speed pursuits, he said, but did not discuss the changes further on Friday, the newspaper reported.
“I’m here today to mourn, really, the loss of a family member,” he said. “The state police are conducting the investigation. At some point, we’ll review everything.”
Ebbighausen is the youngest police officer to be killed in the line of duty in Vermont.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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