Michael Reynolds deemed incompetent to stand trial

    BURLINGTON, Vermont (WPTZ) -- A Burlington man with 1,800 police encounters has been deemed incompetent to stand trial following his most recent arrest, according to court officials.

In a hearing on March 19, the court found 46-year-old Michael Reynolds to be incompetent to stand trial in criminal court. Reynolds, who is unhoused, has been behind bars since his arrest in early February on charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct for an incident at the Feeding Chittenden Food Shelf. His encounters with police include all face-to-face interactions with members of law enforcement, including conversations, arrests, courtesy rides and warnings.

Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Alexandra Sturges said Reynolds and his defense are currently working to get him admitted into a Brattleboro retreat for additional treatment.

The next step will be for the court to appoint legal aid and a guardian ad litem, or an appointed advocate to speak on Reynold's behalf legally.

A hospitalization hearing has been set for April 7.

Prior to his last arrest in February, Reynolds was exhibiting behavior that was "out of the ordinary" for those who know him, according to one Feeding Chittenden employee who has regular interactions with Reynolds. That behavior included wandering around, yelling, singing, and speaking incoherently. He also began asking what planet he was on and stated that he wanted to arrest the employees at the food shelf, according to one man NBC5 spoke with from the nonprofit.

Reynolds has racked up more than 200 charges in recent years, according to the Burlington Police Department, and nearly 2,000 police encounters during his lifetime, according to police officials.

In January, Reynolds was at the center of a controversial issue between Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad and Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, after she issued an executive order that will require any news release that the police sends to the media to be reviewed and approved by her office first.

This measure was put in place after Murad sent out a news release about Reynolds' arrest in December, in which the chief called for "other options to be explored" so that his officers would not have to keep picking up Reynolds after he ends up back on the street repeatedly.

In court, Reynolds' defense and the state agreed that what the chief wrote in his release could jeopardize and taint the jury's verdict.