Newport Man Disputes EMTs’ Claims

By Maggie Cassidy
Valley News Staff Writer

Saturday, July 11, 2015
(Published in print: Saturday, July 11, 2015)

White River Junction — A Newport man pleaded not guilty this week to allegations that he grabbed a medical responder who was performing CPR on his brother-in-law and prevented an ambulance from departing for the hospital for several minutes during the early morning hours on the Fourth of July at an Ascutney campground.

Charlie Wheeler’s brother-in-law, Ronald Gobin, 58, died that day after he apparently suffered a heart attack, according to Wheeler and court records. EMTs from Claremont-based Golden Cross Ambulance told police that they could not detect a pulse for Gobin when they first arrived to Running Bear Campground on Route 5 around 2:30 a.m. last Saturday, according to court documents.

In a phone interview Friday afternoon, Wheeler denied all of the allegations, saying he never touched the EMT.

“They’re trying to save my brother-in-law’s life,” Wheeler said. “Why would I interrupt that?” 

Wheeler, 46, was released following his arraignment in Windsor Superior Court on Monday on misdemeanor charges of simple assault on a law enforcement officer and disorderly conduct by way of obstructing vehicular traffic, according to court records. No monetary bail was imposed.

In addition to denying the charges, Wheeler alleged that the accusations from EMTs were retributions for his plans to file a complaint about one of the EMTs. Wheeler said he saw the EMT laughing inside the ambulance while working on his brother-in-law and told somebody at Mt. Ascutney Hospital about it, who suggested he should file a complaint. A few hours after he returned to his campsite, he said, he was woken up by police officers and arrested.

“We didn’t even have time to mourn over my wife’s brother,” Wheeler said. “We had to postpone funeral arrangements because I had to be in court Monday afternoon.”

In an interview Friday afternoon, Golden Cross owner Dale Girard, who said his company is not pushing for charges, said he has talked to his EMTs and he “(doesn’t) have any reason to believe” that any of them acted inappropriately nor in a way that would provoke an assault.

Girard said he was not on scene of the incident and deferred questions about the specifics to police; the officers who responded to the scene, Jennifer Frank and Daniel Silver, were not available, and a message left with the prosecutor, Rhonda Sheffield, was not returned.

Girard said he knows the families involved and was “shocked” to hear about the allegations. 

“I really feel bad for the family,” Girard said. “It was a very unfortunate incident, and I’m so sorry for their loss. ... It’s one of those situations — I know the families, they’re very great people, and again that’s why I felt really bad for everything that’s happened.”

Sworn affidavits included in court documents paint the picture of a chaotic scene Saturday morning, as EMTs told Windsor police officers that Wheeler “repeatedly interfered with the CPR process,” at one point grabbing EMT Bryan Howe’s shoulder from behind and squeezing “in a hard manner.”

Howe told police he briefly stopped CPR to forcefully remove Wheeler’s hand at which point other people at the scene “dragged” Wheeler away.

In another sworn affidavit, Ascutney Fire Chief Darrin Spaulding told police that he saw “25-30 people carrying beer congregated in the area” when he arrived at the campground. When he came upon the scene, he first heard Howe scream “get this guy off of me” before seeing a man being dragged away, continuing to “try and fight and get back to the scene.” 

Wheeler, in his account, said that emotions were already high when EMTs arrived because family members feared for Gobin, who Wheeler said had been unresponsive for nearly 20 minutes and was lying half inside a tent. Wheeler said Howe got inside the tent and Wheeler stayed outside the tent, rubbing Gobin’s legs saying “c’mon buddy, come back with us.”

Wheeler said Howe told him he needed more room. Wheeler acknowledged that at least one person, his son-in-law, “grabbed me and said, ‘Nope, you got to come with me.’ ”

At that point, both the sworn affidavits and Wheeler say that EMTs loaded Gobin onto a stretcher and into the ambulance destined for Mt. Ascutney Hospital.

However, again the narratives diverge: The police affidavit alleges that Wheeler twice confronted Spaulding in a “threatening manner,” climbed onto the running boards on the back of the ambulance and refused to get down, preventing the ambulance from leaving.

“I jumped into the driver’s seat (of the ambulance) and when I went to drive away, I turned around and saw a face through the cubby window,” Spaulding said in the affidavit. “The captain, Ron Main, advised that a male was standing on the back of the ambulance and refusing to get off,” preventing the ambulance from driving away.

EMT James Stewart told police that he estimated that the man, later identified as Wheeler, “impeded the ambulance’s ability to transport for approximately six minutes until fire personnel removed the man from the back of the ambulance.”

Wheeler acknowledged peering into the window — which is when he alleged seeing Howe laughing — but said he did not have to stand on the ambulance boards to do so. 

He said there were two cruisers parked behind the ambulance, which he said needed to pull forward to leave.

Police were dispatched to the scene because Spaulding called them when he was en route, according to the affidavits. He said he contacted dispatch and requested a trooper “because we have previously had issues when responding to this area to include prior assaults,” according to the affidavit.

Girard said that he did not believe that the alleged delay in the ambulance’s departure contributed to Gobin’s death, which Wheeler said was determined to be caused by a heart attack.

A message left for Howe, the EMT, on Thursday was not returned, and attempts to reach him Friday were unsuccessful.

Girard said he cannot recall another instance where an assault charge was brought against a member of the public in relation to an alleged assault on an EMT. He said medical emergencies are stressful situations and it’s not unheard of for a family member to get upset.

Wheeler is next due in court for another hearing on July 23.

Maggie Cassidy can be reached at mcassidy@vnews.com or 603-727-3220.