KVS EXCLUSIVE: North Troy man accused of drug/firearms violations destroyed seven police cars in 2012

By Michael Bielaski,

A North Troy man who has recently pleaded not guilty in Orleans County Superior Court on March 12 to a cocaine sale and firearm violation has in his history the destruction of seven police vehicles back in the summer of 2012.

Roger Pion, 47, was released by Judge Rory Thibault on conditions after his arraignment for felony charges regarding his latest troubles. The State Police affidavit indicates that Pion was arrested following a Vermont Drug Task Force investigation that began back in February of this year.

Roger Pion

Court records indicate that police performed a search warrant at a North Troy residence on March 11, where they found money, cocaine, and a handgun. Investigators were told by family members that Pion - contrary to what he told police - would often go to the apartment in question.

Pion was also ordered by a court not to have a gun due to an extreme risk protection order against him.

It also says that while police were searching the premises, Pion referenced another incident when he used a tractor to destroy multiple Orleans County Sheriff’s Department cruisers.

The infamous tractor rampage

A decade plus earlier, Pion was in the news for running over multiple police cruisers with a tractor and then driving away without a chase. The bewildered police eventually had to unretire an old cruiser from a local repair shop just to catch him.

“Police said Roger Pion, 34, of Newport, Vt., flattened seven marked police cruisers and one unmarked personal vehicle at the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department in Derby, Vt., around 12:40 p.m. Thursday,” NBC News reported in 2012, with two photos of the destruction. It goes on that seven vehicles in all were run over by the tractor in an “apparent revenge scheme”.

The WCAX report on the destruction can be viewed here, with footage of all seven destroyed vehicles. The reporter Gina Bullard says “We have cruisers here that are just completely pummled. …These seven vehicles are more than half of the entire New Orleans County fleet, so it really is quite the impact here.”

A commenter on the report claims to have witnessed the whole incident. @MarcQ21 wrote 12 years ago, “I watched this happen! I was working across the street and saw the whole thing. I was in shock and didn't know what to do. I'm glad nobody got hurt, but they need to fix the station if they can't even hear that, but I can 200 feet away.”

Another witness, Rene Morris, told WCAX, “I just couldn’t believe it. He’s backing up, going over it, turns around, makes his way to the other vehicles, smashes those up, did his business and headed right down Route 5.”

Another commenter on the WCAX report had a humorous take.

“I love how the police found out from the 911 call. lmao. This guy must have played too much GTA [the Grand Theft Auto videogame],” @jamesvalenti9288 wrote in 2015.

The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle