BARRE, Vt. (AP) – Burlington police have issued tickets for a May traffic incident in Barre where a speeding driver and four out-of-state passengers were stopped, ordered out of their car at gunpoint, handcuffed and then released without any charges.

Initially, none of the five police agencies that responded to the incident acknowledged the case as theirs until the past few days.

On Wednesday, Burlington Detective Ken Tisdel issued driver James King, 29, of New York three tickets – two for speeding and one for driving with a suspended license – with fines totaling $958.

“There was some initial confusion relating to radio communication, jurisdiction and responsibility for the case,” Burlington Police Chief Thomas Tremblay said in a written statement.

“These factors coupled with the extremely dangerous operation of the vehicle in question through several police jurisdictions, and no registration records for the vehicle in question, raised the officers’ level of concern.”

Tisdel was returning to Burlington from a search in Hartford in an unmarked car when he noticed a speeding car on Interstate 89 near Randolph.

He followed the car toward Barre, reaching speeds of 105 mph en route.

Tisdel radioed for help when the car exited the interstate onto Vermont Route 62 at Berlin, heading toward Barre. A Washington County sheriff helped pull over King’s car. The deputy drew his gun, ordered the occupants out of the car, handcuffed them, and had them sit on the ground.

Vermont State Police and Barre and Berlin police departments showed up and briefly assisted in the stop. The occupants of the car were eventually released without citation.

Police now contend that King was driving dangerously and that he was violating his parole at the time of the May 26 incident.

“Unsure of the operator’s intentions and the belief that the operator was attempting to elude police, the officers pulled their firearms to safely detain the operator and occupants for investigative purposes,” Tremblay said in the statement.

King was on parole in New York for possession of narcotics with intent to sell, according to police. He wasn’t supposed to be operating a motor vehicle or travel out of state, according to police, and he was returned to jail.

A spokeswoman with the New York State Department of Parole in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said that King is in Ulster County Jail awaiting a Monday hearing when a parole board will decide whether to keep him in jail, restore him or put him into a program.

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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com

AP-ES-07-09-05 0910EDT