BRISTOL — On Nov. 7 Bristol police arrested Chad Cook, 25, of Monkton, in connection with an ongoing burglary investigation conducted with Vermont State Police.
Cook confessed to stealing around 3,700 pounds of steel from a location in New Haven, according to Bristol Police Chief Kevin Gibbs. He said that law enforcement officials believed Cook to be one of three or four individuals responsible for a long string of burglaries from Salisbury to Burlington. As a result of the investigation, three burglary cases in Bristol village were closed.
In other recent activity, Bristol police:
•  On Nov. 5 in an ongoing burglary investigation with Vermont State Police, went to University Mall in South Burlington to recover items related to several unsolved burglary cases in Bristol.
•  On Nov. 6 received a complaint from the group Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE) that there were six to eight people trespassing at a South Street residence. Police followed up on the complaint on Nov. 8.
•  On Nov. 7 received reports of possible marijuana shipments into Vermont from another state.
•  On Nov. 7 had multiple reports requesting a welfare check on a Bristol resident. Many people had received an identical email from the resident’s email account stating that she was out of the country, stranded and in need of money. The resident’s account had been hacked, and the email was a scam; she was safely in Bristol, but unable to contact her friends and neighbors, as the hackers had erased her contact list. Police continue to advise the public to be wary of any phone or email requests for money.
•  On Nov. 8 responded to a report that people were illegally squatting in a South Street apartment. An official tenant had been jailed, though two of the people initially believed to be trespassing had worked out a sublet agreement with the tenant. They are permitted to remain in the apartment while they seek housing alternatives.
•  On Nov. 8 responded to a Spring Street residence after a nine-year-old autistic boy was reported missing. He was located down the street by a family member before police arrived.
•  On Nov. 9 received a complaint from a Kountry Trailer Park resident who was receiving text messages from an ex-girlfriend. Police on Nov. 7 had issued a relief from abuse order against him on the ex-girlfriend’s behalf. The gentleman reported the text messages to police because he mistakenly believed that in contacting him she had violated the terms of the restraining order, according to the police report. He was advised that it only worked the other way around.
•  On Nov. 12 received a report of another phone scam. The complainant’s mother was called by a female subject, and told that she had won $5,000. The scammer was requesting banking information, supposedly to wire the victim, who was a senior citizen, her so-called winnings. Family members were able to prevent that from happening.
•  On Nov. 12 received a report from a Mountain Street resident indicating that a sibling was intoxicated. The relative told police that the sibling in question had been “drinking all night” and had reportedly left the house in pajamas and no shoes, according to the police report. She was located on Meadow Lane and indicated that she had had a fight with relatives and had taken a walk to cool off. Gibbs said police gave her a breath test to find out her blood alcohol content. “She blew an oh-eight-seven, so she really wasn’t that bad,” Gibbs said. As a point of reference, the legal limit for driving is 0.08 percent. The woman was given a lift back to the residence.
•  On Nov. 13 received a bag full of fireworks and explosives that a woman brought to the police station after finding it in her garage. The bag had belonged to her late husband.
“Pretty much any firework that explodes is illegal,” said Gibbs, though the woman was advised to keep several packages of sparklers that were also in the bag.
•  On Nov. 14 an officer assisted Mount Abe students with a “Sticker Shock” campaign. Twice a year, the campaign puts stickers on alcohol containers before they’re sold, with information on the illegality of purchasing alcohol for minors.
•  On Nov. 14 recovered a lost cell phone that a woman had turned in. Police identified the owner but have yet to make contact with them.
•  On Nov. 14 held the fourth Bristol crime forum (see story in the Nov. 19 Addison Independent).
•  On Nov. 14 responded to the fire department’s request for police presence for a truck on fire at Lord’s Prayer rock.
“A gentleman was driving out of town and his car stalled as he was going down the hill,” Gibbs said. “He actually thought his car had overheated because he had something coming out from under the hood. He opened the hood, the engine was on fire and it just went whoosh!”
There were no injuries.