VERGENNES — Winter weather kept Vergennes busy between March 10 and 16, especially during the midweek storm that dumped close to two feet of snow on parts of the county.
On Wednesday, March 12, city police directed traffic around or otherwise helped out five tractor-trailer trucks, four of them stuck on the icy roads downtown and one of which slid off the road further north on Main Street.
On March 13, Vergennes police helped a car that slid off Main Street near the bridge get back onto the road and helped Vermont State Police at accidents on Route 22A in Addison and at the intersection of Routes 7 and 22A in Ferrisburgh.
Throughout the week, police also dealt with vehicles left on city streets in violation of the Vergennes ban on wintertime overnight parking. They either ticketed or towed and ticketed nine vehicles in the course of those seven days. The ban remains in effect until the end of the month.
In other actions between March 10 and 16, Vergennes police:
•  On March 10 arranged for a disabled car on Route 22A to be towed and called a taxi for the driver.
•  On March 10 dealt with an uncooperative man found sleeping in the hallway of a Main Street apartment building.
•  On March 10 cited a Vergennes Union High School student into juvenile court for allegedly stealing $45, a wallet and a cellphone.
•  On March 10 cited Richard Hackett, 33, of Vergennes for selling a regulated drug to a minor.
•  On March 11 cited Christopher LaFlam, 23, for passing a bad check on a closed account at a Main Street restaurant. Police said LaFlam, who they said was on furlough from prison, also attempted to pass bad checks at two other Main Street eateries.
•  On March 11 checked the welfare of a student who was reported to be depressed, and determined he was OK.
•  On March 11 helped the U.S. Marine Corps conduct a background check.
•  On March 11 arrested Patrick Cota, 21, of New Haven and charged him with intimidating a witness in a drug-related case, and with simple assault through physical menace. Police alleged Cota threatened a 15-year-old Vergennes resident and lodged Cota at the Chittenden County Correctional Center for lack of $25,000 bail.
•  On March 11 responded to an incident in which juveniles trespassed at a North Maple Street home.
•  On March 11 cited Keith Casey, 21, of Castleton into court for excessive speed; police allege he was driving 77 in a 30 mph West Main Street zone.
•  On March 11 and 12 helped motorists get into their locked cars on Main Street.  
•  On March 12 began an investigation into a man who police believe had driven off from Champlain Farms without paying for gas three times.
•  On March 12 looked into vandalism to a car parked on Walker Avenue; it was scratched in several places.
•  On March 13 took a report of a minor hit-and-run accident that occurred in the Vergennes Union Elementary School parking lot.
•  On March 14 handled a three-car accident on Main Street.
•  On March 14 referred a snowplowing complaint to the public works department.
•  On March 14 told the driver of a tractor-trailer left in front of the police station to move it because it was blocking traffic, and told him to stop looking in the Dumpsters behind the store across the street for leftover food.
•  On March 15 separated two men who had been drinking and gotten into a fight at a Second Street home.
•  On March 15 looked into a report of a break-in at a Second Street home and determined wind had damaged a storm door.
•  On March 16 were told a BB had been shot through a window at a New Haven Road home.