BRISTOL — From July 8 to July 24, the Bristol Police Department dealt with several intoxicated drivers.
One of those drivers was Douglas Powell, 55, of Brandon.
Just after 6 a.m. on July 22 a person driving along Route 116 called the police to tell them that it appeared a man was sleeping in his car at the traffic light before the one-lane Stoplight Bridge.
When the police arrived on the scene they found Powell dozing in his car and blocking traffic. Bristol Police Chief Kevin Gibbs said Powell apparently had stopped at the traffic signal, placed the car in neutral, put his foot on the brake and taken a nap in his car in the middle of the road. The police officer woke him up and tested his blood alcohol content (BAC), which returned a result of 0.177 percent. The legal limit is 0.08.
“He was twice the legal limit at 6 a.m.,” Gibbs said.
Police cited Powell for driving under the influence (DUI).
In other recent activity, Bristol police:
•  On July 8, arrested Shaun Rublee, 25, of Bristol and cited him for driving with a suspended license, DUI and violating conditions of release. Rublee drove by an officer who recognized him, prompting the officer to check his driver’s license status. Realizing Rublee’s license was suspended, the officer pulled him over. The officer found alcohol in the car and tested Rublee’s BAC. He was then lodged at the Chittenden County Correctional Facility.
•  On July 9, received a report of a theft in progress on Main Street. Police said Dyllinger Higbee, 26, of Monkton allegedly was stealing American flags from light poles on Main Street. Police were told that he left the area in a silver truck with orange road cones on the back, and when a Bristol officer tried to locate the vehicle on Route 116, he discovered that a Vermont State Police trooper had already stopped him. The trooper discovered that Higbee’s BAC was above the legal limit and arrested him for DUI. The Bristol police cited Higbee for petit larceny and recovered the flags.
•  On July 9, responded to a neighborhood dispute on Pine Street. A woman complained that a neighbor was agitating her dog, and said that while in her backyard she noticed her neighbor also photographing her. The neighbor said he was documenting the dog’s barking from his backyard and was not found to be doing anything illegal. People can legally take pictures of activity outside another person’s house if they are on their own property or public property, explained Gibbs.
•  On July 9, received report of a hit and run on Church Street. The resident heard a crash at 1 a.m. and discovered a car was hit. Parts from the suspect’s vehicle were left behind.
•  On July 9, received a report of four vehicles being vandalized at the Bristol Works business park off Munsill Avenue. The vehicles, left overnight in the parking lot, had scratches on them. No suspects were identified.
•  On July 9, issued a no trespass notice to a customer at Maplefields who had previously passed bad checks at the store.
•  On July 9, issued a no trespass notice to a 16-year-old Bristol male, prohibiting him from spending time at The Hub teen center. The notice was issued because administrators at the Hub indicated he might be selling drugs on the premises.
•  On July 9, cited Susan Paquin, 49, of Bristol for DUI. Police received a report that a really drunk woman was driving and located Paquin at Champlain Farms on Main Street in her car with the engine running. Her BAC was 0.209 percent, more than two and a half times the legal limit. Gibbs said that she made several attempts to get back in the vehicle and then tried to leave on foot. The officer tried to control her movements, and, Gibbs said, when the officer thought he was about to be assaulted, as she balled up her fists, the officer put handcuffs on her and put her in the police cruiser. She was taken to a detoxification center in Burlington, but the center sent her to the Chittenden County Correctional Facility, where she was lodged.
•  On July 10, received a report of a group of people yelling swear words from the bandstand on the Bristol green. They were apparently yelling at cars going by and were warned against disorderly conduct for using foul language in a public place. In the future, such behavior will lead to a no-trespass order, said Gibbs. The Bristol selectboard gave the police this power at its selectboard meeting last week.
•  On July 11, received a report of “juveniles” damaging the town green and putting a bench in the middle of West Street in front of the post office. An officer patrolled the areas, but could not locate any suspects. He put the bench back and did not find other damage.
•  On July 11, responded to a tree down across power, cable TV and phone lines on Mountain Street.
•  On July 12, responded to a Pine Street apartment for a reported untimely death.
•  On July 14, in the early morning hours, responded to an alarm at Rite Aid, which was accidentally triggered by an employee.
•  On July 14, cited Ashley Gratton, 18, of Starksboro for possession of marijuana after being stopped for operating a vehicle with an expired registration on West Street.
•  On July 14, responded to an alarm activation at the municipal offices in Holley Hall. A group that had rented the upstairs for a birthday party accidentally activated the alarm.
•  On July 15, received a report of gunshots on East Street. A resident reported hearing two loud gun shots close to his house, and an officer found a male subject on Drake Smith Road walking around with a black powder rifle, which loads manually.
The guy told police he was shooting off powder with no projectiles in the weapon. He had loud music playing as well and was asked to turn that down, which he did. The complainant was advised of the findings.
Gibbs said the man was not violating any law; though, had it been night, he would have exceeded noise levels.
•  On July 15, received a report of a two-year-old child in the park without a guardian. The officer arrived to find a female walking across West Street with her child. The child was reportedly playing on the town green swings, while the mother watched from the bandstand. The swings the child was playing on were 75 yards from the bandstand and 10 feet from the road, said Gibbs.
The complainant was concerned by the lack of supervision and that the child could have wandered into the roadway long before the mother could have responded. She was advised to more closely monitor her child, and the report of the incident was sent to the Vermont Department of Children and Families.
•  On July 15, Brandon Marien, 33, of Rhode Island was arrested for DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. The complainant told the police that when Marien hit a parked car in the Shaw’s parking lot, he looked at her, shrugged his shoulders and drove away.
 He was then stopped on North Street and lodged in a correctional facility, said Gibbs. He was apparently staying with someone in Bristol.
•  On July 16, heard an alarm at the Village Creeme Stand. Employees had inadvertently locked themselves out of the business and when they tried to get back in they activated the alarm. The owner had to respond with a key to get them in.
•  On July 17, checked three subjects found loitering in the Shaw’s parking lot. Earlier that day, the police received a complaint from a Shaw’s employee, referencing drug activity in the parking lot. The three subjects found did not have any drugs on them and were warned against loitering in the parking lot.
•  On July 17, initiated an investigation into possible drug sales. The police obtained information about drug activity in the area. Suspects were said to use electronic money transfers and were dealing with shipments of drugs. The investigation is ongoing and the nature of drugs under investigation was not released.
•  On July 17, received a report of a theft from Martin’s Hardware. Apparently there was some merchandise missing from the store, and they found some evidence with their surveillance system to identify the theft. The store is about to turn over that information to the police, so they can conduct a follow-up investigation.
•  On July 17, responded to an alarm activation at the Merchants Bank. The building was found secure on arrival.
•  On July 18, cited Brenda Shores, 44, of Bristol for providing false information to the police. She reportedly had a dispute with her ex-boyfriend, who asked her to leave. When she refused to leave, he apparently pushed her out the door. After she claimed he had forced her to the ground outside the home, the ex-boyfriend was cited for domestic assault. When obtaining a follow-up statement from Shores, Gibbs said she admitted she lied to the police. The charges against the man were dropped and her charges remained.
“If someone is in your home and you don’t want them there, that’s trespassing, and you can use reasonable force to get them out,” said Gibbs about the man pushing Shores out of his home.
•  On July 18, received a report from a New Haven woman that her vehicle was damaged by a hit and run. She parked her car in a handicap parking spot by St. Ambrose church, and when she returned she noticed her front headlight, bumper and fender were damaged. The fleeing automobile left a trace of white paint on the car.
•  On July 19, received a report from a district resident that three people were smoking marijuana on the town green. Three suspects have been identified, and they appear to be around the age of 20, said Gibbs. But the police report was not complete, so Gibbs was unsure whether they had been charged with anything.
•  On July 21, responded to a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of School and West streets. There were no injuries and damage was minor.
•  On July 21, received a report that several items had been stolen from a Garfield Street garage between 4 p.m. on July 15 and 2:30 p.m. on July 21. Among the contents stolen were four fishing rods, two Plano tackle boxes and a car battery charger. The police believe that the burglar entered through a window.
•  On July 21, responded to an alarm at the Lathrop Mill. Apparently nothing was wrong.
•  On July 21, checked a report of a dog left in a car on Main Street. The air temperature was 84 degrees, and the complainant said the dog had been in the car for at least half an hour. When the officer arrived, the owner was in the vehicle and it was running. There were two dogs in the car, and the man was warned for cruelty to animals.
•  On July 22, received a report that two metal trash cans were stolen from a porch on East Street. The owner then called back and said he located them. A family member had moved them.
•  On July 22, received a report of an open window at ND’s bar on Main Street when the bar was closed. The premises were checked, and the window was secured.
•  On July 23, responded to an alarm at Martin’s Hardware and everything was fine.
•  On July 23, responded to the area of Lord’s Prayer Rock on Route 116 when a tree fell down across the road. Bristol police directed traffic until a state highway crew was able to remove the tree.
•        On July 24, received a report of $100 stolen from a vehicle. An employee at Living Well care home discovered money missing from her purse, which was left in her unlocked vehicle outside. The police have no leads.