A Vermont police officer has pleaded not guilty to three criminal charges stemming from the non-fatal shooting of a mentally ill man after he and another officer were assaulted in Winooski.
Winooski Cpl. Jason Nokes entered the plea Thursday in a Burlington courtroom to charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and providing false information to state police when they conducted the independent investigation.
The Burlington Free Press reports that more than two dozen off-duty police and correctional officers attended the arraignment in apparent support for Nokes, a 19-year police veteran.
Prosecutors say the case centers on an initial claim that the mentally ill man who had assaulted Nokes and another officer had a knife, but subsequent investigation proved he did not.
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