By Mike Donoghue, Senior Correspondent
Woodstock Police Chief Joseph Swanson remains on paid administrative leave more than two weeks after Vermont State Police said it closed out an investigation that led to the veteran lawman being sidelined.
Municipal Manager Eric Duffy offered a flat “no comment” when asked this week when Swanson would be back in charge at Woodstock Police.
When asked when he might be able to comment, Duffy provided the Vermont Standard another “no comment.”
Attempts to reach Swanson were unsuccessful.
His lawyer, William Vasiliou of Middlebury, said Tuesday as the town continues its official review of the matter, he will have no additional comment.
Vasiliou had said when the investigation closed in early November that his client was looking forward to putting the case behind him and returning to work serving the community.
Swanson was never the intended target of the Vermont State Police investigation that was sparked after two motorists apparently got into a traffic spat on High Street in Woodstock on a Sunday afternoon, Oct. 13.
Instead, the case focused on Swanson’s husband and a second driver who were headed in different directions on the narrow street.
The second driver was not happy with the interaction that happened when they got out of their cars and he reported the incident to the Woodstock Police later that day, officials said.
Swanson was present for the incident, which apparently escalated enough that some local residents witnessed the end of the confrontation.
State Police Detective Capt. Scott Dunlap said the two drivers, in the end, refused to cooperate with investigators. With no statements, the case was closed in early November, he said.
Chief Swanson was cooperative with the state police investigation, Dunlap said.
Swanson was initially identified as a witness to the traffic incident on the street. But after interviewing him, police learned he may have been more involved, Dunlap said.
“He injected himself. He physically separated the two involved,” Dunlap said.
“He was a witness to parts of the event, he didn’t see everything,” the captain said about Chief Swanson.
Three other people on High Street heard a commotion and saw parts of the incident, police said. One person took a partial video after the incident happened, Dunlap said.
Duffy announced on Oct. 15, two days after the incident, that Swanson had been placed on paid leave earlier that morning.
His statement said it was “as a precaution following a report of his alleged involvement in an incident that occurred on Sunday, Oct. 13.”
The request by Duffy for an independent investigation came one day after the incident, state police said.
The day Duffy put Swanson on leave, he named Woodstock Sgt. Chris O’Keeffe as the acting police chief to lead the department. There was no cap on how long O’Keeffe would be needed.
O’Keeffe remains in charge and continues to try to ensure all the work shifts are filled.