The top prosecutor in Grand Isle County was cited Tuesday for driving under the influence, according to St. Albans city police.
Doug DiSabito, 57, of Alburgh, was arrested at the Franklin County District Courthouse around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to a press release, St. Albans police got a call from someone at the courthouse reporting that a person in the building appeared to be intoxicated, police said. Officers “contacted” DiSabito when they arrived at the courthouse and took him into custody after a “subsequent investigation.”
DiSabito did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday and an auto-reply from his official email account stated he was out of the country until late April. He’s set to appear in court in Franklin County on the driving under the influence charge on May 4.
Franklin County State’s Attorney Bram Kranichfeld did not respond to a request for comment.
DiSabito announced a month ago that he was planning to run for reelection as Grand Isle County state’s attorney, according to WCAX. He was first elected in 2014.
Grand Isle County, which has a population around 7,200, has the lowest criminal caseload in the state, according to the judiciary. Last year, there were 123 criminal cases filed in Grand Isle compared to 2,283 in nearby Franklin County.
In recent years, DiSabito has been a vocal critic of the state’s bail laws, which he has said, as recently as this weekend, are too lax. He also prosecuted Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore for assaulting a shackled man, though he dropped the case after he twice failed to secure a conviction.
The Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs declined to comment on the pending criminal case, but Executive Director Tim Lueders-Dumont said the department will support DiSabito’s office any way it can.
DiSabito is the second county prosecutor in recent years to face driving under the influence charges. Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos pleaded no contest to a charge that she drove to a crime scene while intoxicated. The Vermont Supreme Court ruled last week to suspend Vekos’ law license while a disciplinary case related to her conviction plays out.
