Vermont man awarded $175,000 after wrongful arrest for flipping off state trooper

A Vermont man arrested by police for swearing at an officer and flipping them off has received a $175,000 settlement after suing the officer and the state for violations of the man’s First and Fourth Amendment rights. 

Gregory Bombard was driving through St. Albans, Vermont on February 9, 2018, when he was passed by Vermont State Trooper Jay Riggen just after noon. According to the complaint, filed in the state’s Superior Court Civil Division, "As their vehicles passed each other, Defendant [Jay] Riggen believed Mr. Bombard to have moved his hand or fingers in some manner," believing that Bombard "displayed his 'middle finger' toward Defendant Riggen." 

Riggen allegedly turned his cruiser around and pulled Bombard over, confronting Bombard "in an angry manner." 

Bombard "expressed confusion" toward the officer, who "continued to express anger towards Mr. Bombard" and told Bombard that "it looked like you flipped me off when you were going by there." Bombard denied the action.  

Riggen said during the initial stop that it was possible he had been mistaken about the gesture, but "continued to question Mr. Bombard and attempted to justify the stop." Bombard was eventually free to go and told the officer toward the end of the encounter that he would file a complaint against Riggen and questioned the legality of the stop. 

"Mr. Bombard was upset to be stopped and questioned by a state police trooper without a valid purpose. As Mr. Bombard pulled away, he cursed, saying something to the effect of 'a*shole' and 'f*ck you,' and showed his middle finger." 

Riggen pulled Bombard over again, ordered him to exit the vehicle, and told him he was under arrest for disorderly conduct.  

"Mr. Bombard was again confused as to how his expressions could amount to a crime," and Riggen "told Mr. Bombard that his 'profane behavior in public' was disorderly conduct." Riggen allegedly told Bombard that "yelling 'a*shole' in front of dozens of people is disorderly conduct 101." 

Bombard was patted down and placed in handcuffs, all while continuing to "question the legality of his arrest and how expressions of protest against a police action could constitute a crime." Riggen reportedly displayed anger towards Bombard throughout the second stop. 

Bombard asked what would happen to his vehicle, which was parked on the street, and Riggen allegedly noted the "no parking" sign where they were and said that the vehicle would be towed and denied Bombard’s request to drive his vehicle to the barracks to avoid towing.  

Bombard was held in the St. Albans barracks for over an hour and was eventually released with a citation to appear in Franklin County District Court. Riggen distributed information on Bombard’s arrest, as well as his mugshot, to various media outlets. 

Bombard was charged with disorderly conduct, and in August of 2018, the court denied Bombard’s motion to dismiss the charge "for lack of prima facie case." A second charge of disorderly conduct was filed against Bombard in November of 2018, though the court later granted Bombard’s motion to dismiss the charge. 

On January 18, 2019, the initial charge was dismissed. 

Borden, who received legal help from the ACLU and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued Vermont State Police and Riggen for violating his rights in 2021. FIRE released a video of the arrest in December 2023, after which on Christmas Day Vermont State Police issued another disorderly conduct citation, blaming him for phone calls that the office received of those angered by the treatment. They dropped the charges the following day. 

On Wednesday, the defendants agreed to a settlement awarding Bombard $175,000. Of that sum, $75,000 would be going toward his legal fees, with the remainder going to Bombard. 

The settlement agreement states that "Defendants do not admit the allegations in the Lawsuit or any liability arising from those allegations or from the Christmas Day Citation and Defendant State of Vermont makes the Payment referenced herein compromise of disputed claims." 

As part of the settlement, Bombard agreed not to sue in the future.  

“Cursing at cops isn’t a crime,” said FIRE senior attorney Jay Diaz in a press release. “Calling it ‘disorderly conduct’ isn’t a get-out-the-Constitution-free card that allows police to silence speech they don’t like.” 

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse for arresting citizens for nothing more than exercising their rights,” said Diaz. “We wouldn’t tolerate police officers who don’t understand traffic laws or parking laws. Well, the Constitution is the highest law in the land and it doesn’t allow cops to punish speech they don’t like.” 

“While our client is pleased with this outcome, this incident should never have happened in the first place,” said ACLU of Vermont Staff Attorney Hillary Rich. “Police need to respect everyone’s First Amendment rights—even for things they consider offensive or insulting. State legislators need to do more to prevent unnecessary and unjustified police interactions like the one Mr. Bombard experienced—by downsizing the footprint and broad authority of police in our communities.”