Police Policy Violations Led to Preventable Death of Vermont Recruit

A Fatal Pursuit That Should Never Have Happened

The pursuit ended on Woodstock Avenue in Rutland when Tate Rheaume slammed nearly head-on into a cruiser, killing 19-year-old Rutland City Police Officer Jessica Ebbighausen . Ebbighausen had been with the Rutland City Police Department for less than two months as a part-time officer and was scheduled to begin training the following month to get her full-time certification . What should have been the beginning of a promising career instead became a preventable tragedy.

An internal affairs investigation into the actions of police in a motor-vehicle pursuit that resulted in the death of a young officer was "preventable" if police had followed proper procedures . "This incident and more specifically the pursuit should have never happened," the report stated. "The specific parts of the vehicle pursuit policy were put in place to prevent this exact sort of thing."

Multiple Officers Violated Department Policy

The investigation found other officers involved in the July 2023 deadly incident committed several policy violations, from not having the proper authority to initiate the pursuit to not following procedures while the chase was underway . "Dumas did not ask for permission to continue the pursuit, he was pursuing for a burglary only, and Dumas knew Rheaume was operating the vehicle he was pursuing and knew his recent mental health issues," the report stated .

Delpha wrote that several ranking officers were on duty at that time, including Caravaggio, Sgt. Jon Dickerson and Whitehead. "Any one of them could have made the determination to stop the pursuit," Delpha wrote . "Even if the pursuit was legitimately started, supervisors had a duty and responsibility to stop the pursuit," Delpha wrote. "There was plenty of time in between radio transmissions for supervisors to take control of this situation and make the appropriate decisions."

Dickerson violated policy by failing to advise Dumas that a pursuit for a burglary was not authorized and not assuming immediate control of the pursuit . "Both Officer Dumas and Corporal Caravaggio's actions, or lack thereof, were direct contributing factors in the cause of Officer Jessica Ebbighausen's death."

Impact on Criminal Case

A Salisbury man driving the vehicle being pursued faces a murder charge in her death . Rheaume, who was also injured in the crash, was charged shortly after the incident with grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle with a resulting death and attempting to elude police leading to a fatal crash. He had been released on bail. However, several months later the prosecutor upgraded the charges against Rheaume to include aggravated murder — the most severe charge available in Vermont — which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison .

"I think it's critical both in assessing his guilt of aggravated murder and certainly mitigates, I think, any sentence that he might receive," Sleigh said. For example, according to Sleigh, an element of the aggravated murder charge was that Rheaume was eluding a lawful pursuit. "I think the IA report calls into question whether the pursuit was lawful at all," Sleigh said .

Unanswered Questions Remain

"The number one question remaining is this, if Officer Ebbighausen had her seatbelt on, would she have survived this crash," Delpha wrote near the end of the report. "At this point, we will never know," he added . The report said that by that time Dumas had resigned from the Rutland City Police Department and went to work for the Rutland Town Police Department, where his father is chief .

This case highlights fundamental questions about police pursuit protocols and accountability. When officers fail to follow established safety procedures designed to protect both the public and fellow officers, the consequences can be devastating. The internal affairs findings suggest that proper adherence to existing policies could have prevented this young officer's death, raising broader concerns about training, supervision, and the enforcement of safety protocols in high-stakes situations.