MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The girlfriend of a Vermont man charged with shooting and wounding a North Carolina state trooper was arrested Wednesday and charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Lyndsey Smith, 21, of Durham, was arrested Wednesday in the Monday shooting of Trooper Michael Potts during a traffic stop, officials in North Carolina said.
Smith is the girlfriend of Mike Edward Brady, 23, of Randolph, Vt.
Brady was arrested Tuesday, a day after police say he shot Potts shot four times. Potts is recovering from his wounds.
Brady has a criminal record that goes back to 2007, but Vermont Corrections Department officials said his history would not have led them to believe he would end up being charged with shooting a law enforcement officer.
“There was nothing in his past that would lead you to believe he was going to be pulled over on the side of the road and randomly shoot a cop four times. That’s completely random given that he has some burglary charges and he was caught shooting a deer decoy,” said Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito, who has ordered a review of the handling of Brady’s case.
Brady’s criminal record includes convictions for burglary and grand larceny. He also has a federal conviction for possession of stolen dynamite. His most recent arrest was last fall when he was charged with poaching deer.
In 2009, Brady fled Vermont while free on bail on charges he and another man forced their way into a home by breaking a glass door with baseball bats, assaulting two residents with the bats, trying them up and stealing the contents of a safe.
He was returned to Vermont after being arrested in Mexico by U.S. marshals working with Mexican counterparts.
He was released from prison in June after 28 months. Until he disappeared in October after he was charged with poaching, he was complying with the terms of his probation, officials said.
Bill Soule, the district manager for the Vermont parole office that oversaw Brady’s case, said he didn’t understand Brady’s alleged actions.
“Human behavior is incredibly difficult to predict, and obviously, we were really taken aback by what happened,” Soule said. “We didn’t see it coming down the pipe. We were quite surprised.”
The parole system is designed to give offenders the opportunity to prove themselves, improve their lives and move forward, Pallito said.
On Oct. 5, Brady and another man were charged with shooting a decoy deer set up by game wardens. At the time, Brady was ordered to report to his probation officer. He did not do so and he was placed on escape status on Oct. 8.
The review of Brady’s case is expected to take two weeks.
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