By Suzie Ziegler
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Three members of a Vermont family are facing charges after a man attacked state troopers with a construction vehicle, bodycam video shows.
The bizarre and terrifying incident happened last week when Troopers Skylar Velasquez and Gabe Schrauf arrived to arrest a burglary and assault suspect, 24-year-old Brandon Tallman, reported WCAX. The situation escalated when Tallman’s parents tried to prevent the arrest.
Tallman’s father, Wayne, jumped into the cab of an excavator parked on his property. Dashcam video shows the elder Tallman operating the excavator’s shovel bucket and swinging its long arm toward the troopers. The video shows Velasquez scuffling on the ground with the suspect when the bucket swings toward her head. Tallman’s mother is also on the ground, holding onto her son as Velasquez tries to arrest him, according to WCAX.
Schrauf points his gun at Wayne Tallman, and presumably orders the man to get out of the cab. The video has no audio.
Police did not immediately say how the situation resolved, but all three are now in custody, the report said. Wayne Tallman faces several charges including reckless endangerment and assault on a protected official; Amy Tallman faces charges for impeding an officer.
Capt. Matt Daley praised the troopers for their conduct during the incident.
“They don’t have a scenario at the academy where we practice this one,” Daley told WCAX. “It was a dangerous situation that [Velasquez and Schrauf] were put in, and in the end, [they] came out on top. [They] both went home that night. That’s the goal of why we went there.”