A Bellows Balls Police Department vehicle seen in 2020. YouTube photo This story by Susan Smallheer was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on Aug 6, 2026.BELLOWS FALLS — The village of Bellows Falls has placed one of its police officers running for Windsor County Sheriff in Tuesday’ s Democratic primary on administrative leave in the wake of a letter from both the Windham County State’s Attorney and the Vermont attorney general’s office, raising questions about his credibility as a police officer. Joshua Lake, 30, who has been a Bellows Falls officer for about two years, was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday, according to Bellows Falls Police Chief David Bemis. Bemis said an “outside” law enforcement agency will conduct the investigation to look into the questions raised by Lake’s admission he “exaggerated” an incident involving his wife to a Walpole, N.H., police officer last December. At the time, Lake said his wife — who at one time was an interim Windsor County deputy sheriff — had pulled a gun on him and had also abused their young daughter. Since then, Lake has said both that the incident never happened and that he had exaggerated the incident. Bellows Falls Police Officer Joshua Lake, who is a candidate in the democratic primary for sheriff in Windsor County. Provided photo The Walpole officer, following police protocols, reported the incident to his superiors, which in turn triggered an investigation by both the Vermont State Police and Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer. On Monday, Windham County State’s Attorney Steven Brown and Domenica Padula from the Vermont Attorney General’s office issued a so-called Giglio letter, which is sometimes called a Brady letter, alerting defense attorneys that Lake’s credibility as a police officer had been called into question. “The Vermont State Police conducted an investigation involving Bellows Falls Police Officer Joshua Lake involving statements he made while off duty during a conversation with an on-duty New Hampshire Police Officer, a person he considered to be a friend, regarding a crime he said he witnessed off duty. When asked by Vermont State Police investigators about the statement, Officer Lake stated he exaggerated what he told the New Hampshire Police Officer,” the joint letter from Brown and Padula, the chief of the criminal division of the Vermont Attorney General’s office, said. Lake didn’t return a message seeking comment Thursday. Brown, in a telephone interview Thursday, said that criminal cases from Bellows Falls involving Lake would still go forward, but would come under additional review and checks for credibility. Brown said he had never called Lake as a witness in a trial, but he said he does have pending cases with Lake, as both a witness and case officer. READ MORE He said the Giglio letter, and not an “alert,” as Lake has characterized it, is relatively rare, and he said he knew of only one other Windham County police officer “who had a letter.” Some Giglio letters are a death knell for a law enforcement career, depending on the severity of the misdeed. The other Windham County officer with a Giglio letter had misrepresented his timesheet, Brown said. “We are going to evaluate on a case by case basis,” Brown said. It was that letter, a short press release from Bemis, that prompted the action by the village manager Aaron Patt to place Lake on administrative leave, with pay. Patt couldn’t be reached Thursday. Lake, although he’s been a Bellows Falls officer for only two years, has a long family history in law enforcement in Windham County. His father, Ron Lake, is the former Bellows Falls police chief who resigned in January 2020, citing medical problems. His grandfather, Sherwood Lake Sr., was a longtime officer in the Brattleboro Police Department, and both his father and his uncle, Sherwood Lake Jr., worked in the Windham County Sheriff’s Department. Lake recently moved from Rockingham to Chester, which is in Windsor County, during the campaign. Lake is one of three Democrats seeking to replace Palmer, who himself is facing a raft of criminal charges stemming from his work as sheriff. Palmer has not resigned, despite being stripped of his certification as a Vermont law enforcement officer. On Wednesday evening, the Windsor County Democratic Committee sent out a letter to its membership alerting them to the Lake development, and the Giglio letter. Read the story on VTDigger here: Windsor County Sheriff candidate placed on administrative leave from Bellows Falls PD. ...read more read less