VERGENNES — Vergennes Police Chief George Merkel said this week city police will be participating in a countywide effort to set up sobriety checkpoints on New Year’s Eve, including one possibly in the Vergennes area.
Vermont State Police, Middlebury and Bristol police, and the Addison County Sheriff’s Department will all be participating in establishing checkpoints, Merkel said.
All the departments are asking that residents drink responsibly, use designated drivers, don’t drink and drive, and be careful on the roads during the holiday season, and especially on New Year’s Eve.
Merkel said police and deputies at the checkpoints will make every effort to minimize the inconvenience to motorists in what he said was an important safety effort, and he asked the public to cooperate.
In regular police business between Dec. 10 and 16, Vergennes police:
•  On Dec. 10 responded to a loose dog complaint on White Street, but couldn’t find it.
•  On Dec. 10 heard that a vehicle was blocking a Short Street driveway, but determined that was not the case after arriving on the scene.
•  On Dec. 11 checked the Agency of Transportation commuter lot for a suspicious person seen there, but found no one.
•  On Dec. 11 told a woman to stop making threatening calls to a Second Street resident and to stay away from her.
•  On Dec. 12 heard from a Walker Avenue resident that a telemarketer had become abusive during a phone call; police determined the call was probably a scam and filed a report with the attorney general’s office.
•  On Dec. 13 dealt with a minor two-car accident at the intersection of Main Street and Monkton Road.
•  On Dec. 13 accepted a batch of prescription drugs for destruction that had been left at 1 Alden Place.
•  On Dec. 14 went to help the Vergennes Area Rescue Squad at Champlain Farms, where a woman had fallen outside.
•  On Dec. 14 spoke to a man and a woman on School Street about an incident in which her ex-husband had argued with her and then drove off at a high rate of speed.
•  On Dec. 15 dealt with a disorderly and intoxicated woman who had been kicked out of the City Limits nightclub for fighting; police are investigating her allegation that she was choked while being removed from the premises by bar personnel.
•  On Dec. 15 spoke with a Main Street apartment resident who said many items had been stolen from her apartment, but concluded she had a mental health issue and was not making an accurate report.
•  On Dec. 15 investigated an assault on a woman passenger in a car involved in a Route 7 incident with a pick-up truck. Police said the driver of a car she was in went to pass the slower-moving truck, and it sped up to 70 mph and then followed the car into Vergennes and pulled alongside it. When the woman got out of the car to get a license number, a truck passenger opened a door into her and kicked her in the stomach; police have a description of the truck, but not the plate number.
•  On Dec. 15 cited Marlena L. Laws, 20, of Vergennes for driving while under the influence of alcohol, driving a car with plates not assigned to it, and possession of alcohol by a minor; the citations followed a traffic stop for defective equipment on Main Street.
•  On Dec. 16 reported to the public works department that a road sign on Walker Avenue had been damaged, apparently by being struck by a vehicle.