State police: Injured man likely hurt jumping through a window

February 16, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti

Investigators have found no evidence that a man was a victim of a shooting in Waterbury on Wednesday, and that man was arrested and held overnight in jail awaiting a court hearing, according to Vermont State Police. 

A Vermont State Police trooper drives down Cabin Lane in Waterbury on Thursday morning. Photo by Gordon Miller

In an update issued Thursday afternoon, police identified the man involved in the incident on Wednesday as 30-year-old Ryan Sturtevant-Hatch, who has no permanent address.

Police said Sturtevant-Hatch had left a drug treatment and recovery facility Monday in violation of court-ordered conditions and had been staying in a rental cabin on Cabin Lane in Waterbury with two acquaintances. 

On Tuesday night, he began destroying property at the cabin, causing the other two individuals to flee the cabin, police said. 

At some point overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, Sturtevant-Hatch appears to have injured himself by jumping out of the cabin through a window, police said. 

He told police that he was injured when an assailant broke into the cabin and fired multiple rounds at him from a handgun, but investigators said they found no evidence at the scene that a shooting had occurred.

Mid-morning on Wednesday, Sturtevant-Hatch reached out to staff at the Stowe Cabins in the Woods, turning up wrapped in a blanket and wearing sweatpants without a shirt or shoes, according to property owner Ed Drill. He had a bleeding injury on his arm and claimed he had been shot. 

Drill said Sturtevant-Hatch was given shoes and some clothes while Drill called 911 to report the shooting. Sturtevant-Hatch then left the cabins on foot and made his way to the nearby Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea cafe where he claimed to have been in a snowmobile accident. Staff at the cafe also called 911. 

State troopers responding to the calls summoned EMS and Sturtevant-Hatch was taken to UVM Medical Center by ambulance. 

Upon his discharge from the hospital Wednesday night, Sturtevant-Hatch was taken into custody by Stowe Police officers. He was transported to the Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury and jailed for lack of $200 bail and an approved residence, according to state police. 

The Stowe Police Department had been searching for Sturtevant-Hatch to arrest him for violating court conditions in connection with a previous assault and robbery case. State police referred further questions about the Stowe case to the Stowe Police Department.

Sturtevant-Hatch was scheduled for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Vermont Superior Court-Criminal Division in Hyde Park. 

The state police update noted that the investigation into the Waterbury incident remains ongoing. The matter when completed will be turned over to the Washington County State’s Attorney for review for possible charges, including unlawful mischief and providing false information to police, police said. 

Further updates will be issued as the investigation continues, police added.