State Police stop wrong-way driver and driver of a stolen car

August 31, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

In separate impaired-driving incidents this weekend, Vermont State Police report that a wrong-way driver on Interstate 89 was stopped and that a Milton driver arrested after driving erratically was in a stolen vehicle.

The most recent incident happened just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, when state troopers responded to a report of a wrong-way driver headed south in the northbound lanes of I-89 near mile marker 66.2 in Waterbury, according to state police Trooper Alyssa Nozka. Police from Montpelier and Berlin assisted in the search for the driver, state police said.

Berlin Police safely stopped the driver near mile marker 59 and identified the driver as 24-year-old Ashton Davis of Winooski. He was arrested without incident and was taken to the Berlin state police barracks, where he was issued a citation to appear in Washington County Superior Court - Criminal Division on Sept. 18 to answer to the charges of DUI Refusal and Gross Negligent Operation, police said.

An earlier arrest took place at the I-89 southbound rest area in Waterbury on Saturday morning. Just after 11 a.m., police said they received multiple reports of a Kia vehicle driving erratically on I-89, headed southbound. 

“Witnesses described the vehicle as making abrupt stops, including stopping in the left lane without warning, stopping in the middle of the road, and failing to maintain its lane. One witness also reported seeing the vehicle strike a guardrail and continue driving without stopping,” Trooper Michael Foley from the Williston barracks wrote in his report of the incident. 

Troopers located the vehicle at the southbound rest area in Waterbury with the driver passed out at the wheel, they said. They woke the driver, who was identified as Lauren Santamore, 35, of Milton, police said. 

The investigation found that the vehicle was reported stolen in Washington County; Santamore was driving with a criminally suspended license and showed signs of impairment, police said. 

A vehicle search also turned up items of stolen property and illegal narcotics, police said. 

Santamore was arrested and taken to the Williston barracks, where she was issued a citation to appear in Vermont Superior Court - Criminal Division in Barre on Oct. 30. Santamore will face charges of Vehicle Operation Without Owners Consent, Operating With a Criminally Suspended License, DUI Drugs #2, Negligent Operation, Possession of Stolen Property, and Narcotic Possession, police said. Santamore was released pending her court appearance.