Bodycam shows arrest of Addison County State's Attorney Eva Vekos on DUI charge
By: -----
Bridport, VT - Newly released body camera video shows the arrest of Addison County State's Attorney Eva Vekos and sheds new light on what happened on the January night after she was taken into custody on a suspicion of DUI charge last year.
Vermont State Police body camera video from the scene and the state police barracks, which shows troopers handcuffing Vekos after one trooper says he detected signs of impairment. That video has been released under Vermont's Public Records Law and has never been shown publicly until now.
Vekos had allegedly shown up to a homicide investigation in Bridport smelling of alcohol and slurring her speech, which was enough for troopers to arrest her after she refused to cooperate.
In one video, a trooper can be heard telling Vekos that he smells alcohol on her breath, to which she replies, "are you serious?" and declines to participate in sobriety tests.
The county's top prosecutor is then handcuffed and put in the back of a police cruiser, before being taken to the Vermont State Police barracks in New Haven, where she is placed in a holding cell.
In another clip, a sergeant who came up from Rutland begins Vekos' processing, at which point she suggests that he could use his discretion to downplay the incident. She also says she does not want her mugshot to be taken.
"My face is not going to go out in the paper," Vekos says to the sergeant, to which he replies, "That's nothing that I'm going to decide. As far as discretion, we as a department don't take any discretion with DUI."
Vekos later says she hopes the incident does not have a negative impact on her office's relationship with law enforcement.
"We've been working really hard with law enforcement to build a good relationship, and this is going to knock that really down, and my office is going to suffer now," she said.
Vekos tells the sergeant that she would not answer questions or make statements, and knew a six-month suspension would be coming. She asks if she could take photos of her wrists where she had been handcuffed and briefly sobs while calling a friend for a ride home.