Category Archives: Crime

Crime, courts and judicial news.

Danby man charged with stealing from fire vehicles

The U.S. Forest Service has arrested Kyle M. Hoffman, 27, of Danby, and charged him with the federal felony of theft within the “Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States,” the Forest Service said in a release Thursday.

The warrant for his arrest stemmed from several thefts reported in September of 2013, where federal wildland fire vehicles, Student Conservation Association vehicles and other vehicles were broken into at a Forest Service work center in Mount Tabor.

The case will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney in Burlington.

Man charged for alledgedly punching car

WEST RUTLAND — A Rutland man faces a charge of unlawful mischief for allegedly using his fist to punch out a car headlight during a family fight, according to Vermont State Police.
Police say they were called to 23 Proctor St. at 10 p.m. on Halloween night for a family disturbance. At the address police say they learned that Gregory M. Eastman Jr., 29, had punched and broken a car headlight.
On Nov. 6, police issued Eastman a criminal citation to appear in Rutland criminal court next month.

Weathersfield convenience store robbed

WEATHERSFIELD — Vermont state police are investigating the robbery of a convenience store as the clerk was preparing to close.
Police say a white male wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a mask walked into the Circle K convenience store just off Interstate 91 in Weathersfield at about 11 p.m. Thursday.
The man kept his right hand in his pocket during the robbery but did not brandish a weapon.
Police say the suspect made off with a small amount of cash and fled on foot. A K-9 team tracked him a short distance but did not catch up with him.
Investigators are reviewing store surveillance video and ask that anyone with information on the case call the Rockingham state police barracks at 802-875-2112.

Man received sex in lieu of rent, police say

WILDER — A landlord is facing criminal charges for allegedly receiving sexual favors from a tenant in lieu of rent, Hartford police said.
Robert Lowery, 55, had been engaged in a long-running dispute with a tenant at his Horseshoe Avenue home, Hartford police said.
The Valley News reported that Lowery allegedly entered the tenant’s apartment, damaged items and threw them onto the lawn. Police said the investigation revealed that Lowery and the tenant, whom Hartford Police Chief Brad Vail said was an adult woman, had engaged in consensual sex acts in lieu of rent.
Lowery is charged with prohibited acts, a misdemeanor He is also charged with burglary and unlawful mischief.
Police are investigating the actions of the tenant, Vail said.

Castleton students — including All-American football player — charged with retail theft in Rutland Town

Staff Report 

Vermont State Police said a group of Castleton State College students worked together to steal merchandise from Dick’s Sporting Goods in Rutland.

Two students - 21-year-old Brandon Boyle and 19-year-old George Busharis - were cited Tuesday for retail theft and police said several other Castleton students were involved but had yet to be identified.

Police said Boyle was working at the store Tuesday and helped Busharis get out with roughly $300 in merchandise. Busharis allegedly told police they had done this two or three times in recent weeks. Police said the store estimated its total losses at around $3,000.

Busharis and Boyle are both football players at Castleton. Castleton State College spokesman Jeff Weld issued a prepared statement Wednesday saying they had been suspended indefinitely from the football program.

“This matter is under investigation in cooperation with law enforcement,” Weld wrote. “Obviously the alleged behavior is unacceptable for any student, whether or not he or she has the privilege of intercollegiate athletic participation. We are very surprised and saddened by this situation.”

Boyle, a Springfield High School graduate, was named to several preseason All-American teams, after catching 96 passes, 18 for touchdowns, in 2012.

Busharis of Mansfield, Mass., is the starting quarterback and passed for 463 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-31 victory at Plymouth State University in the season opener Saturday.

Bennington man faces felony DUI

BENNINGTON — A local man is being held without bail and faces a felony charge of driving under the influence of alcohol after police said he crashed his car into a tree on Tuesday.
John A. Richi, 61, of Bennington, was arraigned in Bennington criminal court on Wednesday on a felony charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and a felony charge of refusing to provide a breath sample. Richi was also charged with a misdemeanor count of driving after his license had been suspended for a drunken driving conviction.
The charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol was a felony because Richi has already been convicted three times of the same charge, in July of this year and in November 1990 and September 2011. The charge of refusing to submit to a sobriety test was also a felony based on the previous convictions.
Police said the crash of a car into a tree was reported on Tuesday around 3:45 p.m. When Officer Robert Murawski of the Bennington Police Department arrived at the scene, he said in an affidavit, he noted signs that Richi might be impaired.
According to Murawski, Richi, who admitted to drinking prior to the crash, declined to give a breath sample and perform certain roadside sobriety tests.
Richi is being held in the Rutland jail because his probation, from the drinking and driving charge from earlier this year, was revoked based on the new charges.

Loincloth bandit arrested again in WRJ - says his clothing choice is a basic freedom

Photo by Eric Francis Dylan Gingues (in a loincloth) engages Officers Logan Scelza and Sean Fernandes in a debate about his Constitutional rights in Hartford Wednesday.

Photo by Eric Francis
Dylan Gingues (in loincloth) engages Officers Logan Scelza and Sean Fernandes in a debate about his Constitutional rights in Hartford Wednesday.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The same man who caused a Bellows Falls elementary school to be briefly locked down a week ago after he ran past in the nude was arrested again Wednesday when he appeared in White River Junction.

Dylan Gingues, 26, of Bellows Falls was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of lewd and lascivious conduct and violating a court-ordered condition of release. A woman at the newly opened LISTEN Center told police Gingues exposed himself to her when she and her children arrived to attend a community dinner.

Gingues and a small group of friends had just gotten out of their car when his appearance began to create a stir, drawing a small crowd of onlookers.

Hartford Police officers were already at neighboring Lyman Point Park when the woman ran up to them and said Gingues exposed himself.

Meanwhile, Gingues stood nearby in a loincloth and engaged Officers Logan Scelza and Sean Fernandes in a debate about his Constitutional rights.

“Awww! He’s cute,” said a young woman on a nearby balcony as police handcuffed Gingues.

Cornelio Conley of Massachusetts, who said he was one of three friends who had driven to White River Junction with Gingues to eat at the community dinner, was adamant that Gingues did not deliberately expose himself to anyone.

Conley, who said he’d been in Vermont for just a week, described the band of friends as traveling “free-staters” and said they were all interested in preserving what they perceived as basic freedoms.

“We’ve had to deal with this over and over again,” he said.

“Having dealt with the same scenario four or five times this past week you’d have to believe he would be smart enough not to touch himself,” Conley said. “I’m 100 percent sure that didn’t happen.”

Police also responded later that night to the report of a man ‘dressed like Tarzan’ who was trying to hitchhike on I-91 northbound near exit 7 in Springfield. It is not known if the two incidents are related.

- Eric Francis | Correspondent

Police arrest three connected to armed robbery at pharmacy

CAMBRIDGE — Vermont State Police have arrested three people in connection with an armed robbery at a pharmacy in Cambridge.
Police say man and two women entered Kinney Drugs on Thursday afternoon. The man pulled out a handgun and demanded opiates and stimulant drugs from the pharmacist.
The pharmacist handed over some drugs, and the three left. No one was hurt.
The three were traveling in a car that was tracked down by police about an hour later.
Police said 38-year-old Russell John Thaxton of Starksboro was arrested on assault and robbery charges. They said  31-year-old Amanda Tetrault of Eden and 30-year-old Jennifer Stancliff of Morrisville were charged with accessory aiding in the commission of a felony.
It wasn’t immediately known if they had lawyers.

Naked man near school arrested

BELLOWS FALLS — A naked Bellows Falls man was arrested Thursday for violating the village’s anti-nudity ordinances, according to officials.

The naked man at one point was near the Central Elementary School, and according to Superintendent Chris Kibbe, window blinds were drawn and the school was at a slightly heightened sense of security, he said.

Students and staff never saw the naked man, Kibbe said. Doors at the school are always locked, he said.

Efforts to reach Bellows Falls Police Chief Ron Lake were unsuccessful Thursday, but Kibbe said one man was arrested.

- Susan Smallheer

Police remove grenade from Morrisville McDonald’s

MORRISTOWN (AP) — Vermont State Police explosives experts are working to determine if a hand grenade found in the drive-thru lane of a Morrisville restaurant was real or a novelty item.
Morrisville police say they were called to the Morrisville Shopping Plaza at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday after receiving the report about the grenade outside a McDonald’s restaurant.
When officers arrived they determined it was a completely assembled grenade.
Police shut down parts of Route 15, evacuated the plaza and called in the state police bomb squad.
State police experts made the device safe and removed it.
They are now planning to X-ray the device to see if it was real.
Anyone with information about how the incident is asked to call Morrisville police.