NEWS

Leaders: Freeh nearly died in VT crash

Mike Donoghue
Free Press Staff Writer

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh would have died within 60 seconds of sustaining a severed artery in a car crash eight months ago in Vermont if not for the life-saving actions of emergency crews, officials revealed Friday.

Current FBI leader James Comey and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., made the remarks when questioned about Freeh's medical condition, including a leg mangled in the Aug. 25 wreck in Barnard in Windsor County.

This was the first time that public officials have provided details concerning the serious nature of Freeh's condition after the accident.

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Leahy noted that Freeh had a severed artery in a leg, but Vermont's first responders, along with a retired FBI agent who witnessed the crash, came to Freeh's aid.

"Louis would have died within a minute or so. They stopped the bleeding," Leahy said.

"I told him he better believe in guardian angels," said Leahy, who noted the retired FBI agent also had the same first name as Freeh.

Former FBI head Louis B. Freeh, seen in July 2012 in Philadelphia, nearly died after severing an artery in a leg during a car crash last year in Vermont, officials disclosed for the first time Friday.

"He credits those folks with saving his life," Comey told reporters at the news conference at Champlain College. Comey was in Burlington to tour the college with Leahy.

Freeh was critically injured in the crash. State police believe the former FBI director fell asleep at the wheel on Vermont 12 near his seasonal home in Barnard.

Comey and Leahy said that Freeh is on the road to recovery eight months after the single-vehicle crash.

The officials never directly addressed a question about Freeh's losing a leg.

Comey, who said Freeh hired him for his first job, said he did not want to discuss the former director's medical issues.

"He actually is doing — for any normal human — shockingly well," Comey said.

Emergency crews bring former FBI director Louis Freeh, 64, of Wilmington, Del., to a helicopter for transport to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., following an Aug. 23 crash on Vermont 12 in Barnard .

Leahy said he was in his office recently when Freeh stopped by to check in.

"He walks with a cane. Most people wish they could move that well," the senator said. "His recovery has been remarkable."

Freeh, 64, of Wilmington, Delaware, told Vermont State Police and later filed his own state accident report indicating he had no memory of the crash on Vermont 12 shortly after noon Aug. 25.

Freeh's SUV forced three oncoming drivers to take evasive action when he crossed the center line and almost hit them head-on, witnesses reported.

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One of the drivers who avoided the crash told the Burlington Free Press after the crash that he estimated Freeh's SUV was traveling 60-65 mph. The posted speed limit was 50 mph.

Freeh eventually drove off the road, struck a tree and was left with serious injuries. He was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where he was admitted under armed guard.

He was later transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Freeh never responded to a Burlington Free Press request for an interview but issued a general statement four days after the crash.

"May God bless all of these individuals who are so instrumental in my recovery," Freeh said in the statement, which singled out high-profile supporters and medical personnel for praise.

The statement made no mention of police, fire and rescue personnel.

The eight-sentence statement marked Freeh's first public comments regarding the wreck but included no information about his condition, the extent of his injuries or the crash itself.

Three Vermont State Police news releases about the crash from then-spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro never mentioned that the former chief federal law enforcement officer almost struck three motor vehicles.

Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said state police leaders never told him about the close calls.

A GMC Yukon driven by former FBI director Louis Freeh had its roof removed by rescuers following a one-vehicle crash Aug. 23 on Vermont 12 near his seasonal home in Barnard.

State police were criticized for trying to keep the crash under wraps for 24 hours. A video crew for Fox44/ABC 22 in Colchester and a photographer from a local weekly newspaper in Woodstock were at the scene, but they were told a news release would be issued the following day.

Instead, FBI sources in Washington told NBC News that Freeh had been in a Vermont crash. The Vermont State Police issued a news release more than eight hours after the wreck and only after multiple calls by local and national media.

Freeh, a former federal judge in New York, served as the FBI director from 1993 to 2001. He founded Freeh Group International Solutions, a consulting group with offices in Washington, Wilmington and New York City.

Freeh also is known for authoring a report critical of Penn State University's handling of the sex-abuse case involving football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Contact Mike Donoghue at 660-1845 or mdonoghue@freepressmedia.com. Follow Mike on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FreepsMikeD.