Bristol Police Log for Oct. 22: Bristol police kept busy with dog incidents
BRISTOL — Bristol police dealt with several incidents involving dogs during August. In a report for the month that Chief Kevin Gibbs recently released, he reported that on Aug. 7 police picked up a stray dog wandering on Woodland Drive and took it to the humane society. Later that day a resident retrieved their dog.
On Aug. 17, an officer assisted a dog left inside a capped pickup bed in hot weather. The temperature inside the capped pickup bed was found to be 120 degrees, and the dog was in distress. Police seized the dog and placed it in an air-conditioned cruiser. When the owner appeared, the officer warned him that any future reports of similar neglect of his dog would result in a cruelty to animals charge. The officer then returned the dog to the owner.
That same day, police responded to a report of an animal bite on Fitch Avenue. Police found that a pit bull belonging to a nearby resident had escaped a fenced area and bitten a mail carrier. Police found the dog still wandering and ordered the owner to secure the dog and keep it secured at home until a hearing could take place on Aug. 24. At that hearing, a number of residents gave testimony, and the selectboard ordered the dog to be destroyed. The owner then destroyed the dog in accordance with the selectboard’s order.
Finally, police investigated a report of a vicious dog chasing a child on a bicycle between Taylor Avenue and Pleasant Street on Aug. 30. The dog did not bite the child but a parent had to get between his child and the dog to get the dog to stop. Police notified the town, and further action may be taken as there had been complaints about the same dog.
During the month of August, Bristol police conducted 17 town-contracted traffic patrols on Monkton, Stoney Hill, Burpee, Cove, Lincoln, Upper Notch and Lower Notch roads, as well as on Route 116. Officers issued one ticket for an overweight truck, six tickets for speeding, four tickets for stop sign violations and one ticket for a civil violation of driving without a license.
Also during the month, officers checked that local businesses were secure at least seven times, and checked local residences while homeowners were on vacation a couple of times, as well.
In other action in August, Bristol police:
• Assisted the Vermont State Police with a misdialed 911 call on Aug. 1.
• Investigated a smashed rear window in a car parked in the Rite-Aid parking lot on Aug. 1.
• On Aug. 1 at 3:46 p.m. were dispatched to a Pine Street residence for a reported 911 hang up. Upon arrival the officer determined that a family fight was in process. He arrested Tausha Lynn Stalcup, 42, and cited her for domestic assault committed in the presence of a child. Police lodged Stalcup at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility.
• On Aug. 2 at 9 a.m. received a report of a verbal domestic dispute at a village residence. The officer determined that there wasn’t a domestic issue, but that one of the parties involved had a medical condition where they could not speak rationally with their spouse.
• Assisted Colchester police with a gas drive-off by getting in touch with a Bristol resident on Aug. 2.
• Applied for and got an arrest warrant for Damian Sulger, 21, of Bristol on Aug. 3 for violation of his conditions of release. Last week police said his whereabouts were unknown.
• Investigated a complaint about a laptop stolen from a vehicle parked at Shaw’s on Aug. 3; the complainant later found the laptop in his/her car.
• Were told by a village resident that he or she had been receiving “harassing” text messages from a former employer and wished for them to stop on Aug. 4. The officer contacted the former employer asking him to stop all communications with the complainant. Both parties informed the officer all communications between the two would stop.
• Issued a notice against trespass to a Burlington resident at the request of a Kountry Trailer Park resident on Aug. 5.
• Investigated vandalism at the Bristol Skatepark on Aug. 5. Someone had spread an oily substance on the ramps at the park and had ripped the plywood off the side of a ramp.
• Checked the welfare of a child at a local home in response to a Department for Children and Families (DCF) report on Aug. 5; the child appeared safe. An open physical abuse case is still being investigated.
• Received a report about an elderly woman walking in traffic in the Stoney Hill area on Aug. 7. Police tried to locate the woman but did not find her.
• Assisted the Vermont State Police in investigating a drive-by shooting at a bicyclist on Route 17 in Starksboro on Aug. 7. Police searched Routes 17 and 116, along Quaker Street and up to Jerusalem but did not find the suspected vehicle.
• Looked into a report of a suspicious vehicle seen driving around near a West Street business on Aug. 7. Police investigated and found that the driver had been working all day and was taking a short nap before going home to St. Johnsbury.
• Took a report on a vehicle damaged while in the Shaw’s parking lot on Aug. 9.
• Assisted the Bristol Rescue Squad with a medical call at a Main Street residence on Aug. 9. The rescue squad took the patient to Porter Hospital.
• Helped the cleaning service for 61 Pine St. get back into the building after locking themselves out on Aug. 9.
• Helped VSP locate a woman who had attempted suicide on Aug. 10. The woman was transported to Porter Hospital.
• Mediated a dispute between parents of a child being returned from the father to the mother on Aug. 11.
• Checked in on a Mountain Street resident on Aug. 11 after New Hampshire State Police reported the resident’s vehicle had been found abandoned in a remote area for several days. Police found that the resident was OK and had sold the vehicle to someone else.
• On Aug. 12 arrested Steven Paul Bright, 47, of Bristol and cited him for violation of an abuse prevention order. Police said that based on a prior conviction for domestic assault, the violation of abuse prevention order charges are enhanced to a felony.
• Responded to a report from the Bristol Rescue Squad that a woman on South Street was making repeated calls to the BRS and requesting transport to the University of Vermont Medical Center for a medical issue she had just been transported to Porter Hospital for. Police said the woman is known to report medical issues in order to obtain narcotic medication and reportedly had been denied at Porter. Police warned the woman against further calls to emergency services.
• Sponsored ALICE training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) at Mount Abraham Union High School on Aug. 13-14. ALICE training teaches proactive ways to respond to violent intruders. Attendees from the Addison Northeast and Addison Northwest supervisory unions and area law enforcement participated in a two-day training that included practical exercises in all five ALICE areas.
• Conducted foot patrol on the town green on Aug. 13.
• Conducted foot patrol along Main Street and North Street, including the town green, on Aug. 15.
• Assisted parents by finding and returning their teenage daughter on Aug. 15. The girl had left the family’s Bristol residence without permission and would not return when told. Police issued a “Be on the lookout” code for the vehicle and the teenager. The girl was found by Middlebury police, who brought her home to her parents.
• Responded to a possible trespass violation at the Kountry Trailer Park. Police found a man standing on the road in front of the complainant’s residence. The man was there for visitation with his one-year-old child. Police found that no trespass violation had occurred and assisted him with his visitation.
• Were notified by Middlebury police on Aug. 16 that a suspect in a Middlebury forgery investigation had used a stolen credit card at Merchants Bank in Bristol between June 24 and July 11. Bristol police arranged a meeting with the suspect and are continuing their part of the investigation.
• Referred an assault case to the state police for investigation on Aug. 17. A Grand Isle resident reported the assault, which took place in Bristol.
• Received information regarding drug activity in the district on Aug. 17. Police are continuing their investigation.
• On Aug. 17 responded to a disturbance on Main Street. A homeless male who had been staying with two subjects from Bristol began arguing with one of the two and then became threatening, police report. The accused was found in the park and was transported to a shelter after being warned for disorderly conduct.
• Assisted Bristol Internal Medicine by being present in the building during a disciplinary action with an employee on Aug. 17. Police stood by with the other staff and there were no issues with the employee being disciplined.
• Responded to an alarm at MAUHS on Aug. 19. Police found that the alarm had been set off by blowing papers.
• Responded to a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Main and West streets on Aug. 19. Police said that a Bristol teen rear-ended a Starksboro teen when the Starksboro driver stopped for turning traffic. Both vehicles had been traveling westbound. The Bristol Rescue Squad checked a passenger in the struck vehicle. The vehicle operated by the Bristol teen was towed from the scene.
• Notified a resident of personal property found at Bartlett Falls on Aug. 18.
• Responded to an alarm activation at the Bristol police station on Aug. 20. Police found the building secure and reset the alarm.
• Were contracted to provide traffic control for ongoing work to complete the installation of traffic control signals at Main and West streets on Aug. 21, but the contractor for the work did not show.
• Received a report on Aug. 21 of a Raleigh “Rush Hour” bike stolen from a lawn on Maple Street the previous day or two. The bike had a purple and orange frame, a blue and green sprocket, and yellow handlebars.
• Assisted the Bristol Rescue Squad at a North Street address on Aug, 22.
• On Aug. 23 responded to a citizen dispute on West Pleasant Street, which resulted in the arrest of Dale Vanleuven, 54, of Bristol. Police cited him for simple assault and police also issued him a notice against trespass for a West Pleasant Street residence.
• Assisted South Burlington police with a speeding vehicle going northbound on Route 116 on Aug. 24.
• Placed “drive safely” signs to alert residents that school would soon be opening on Aug. 25.
• Investigated a report of profanity and open drug use near Devino Lane on Aug. 25.
• Assisted state police in investigating a domestic assault at the Green Mountain Family Campground on Aug. 25.
• Responded to an alarm at the National Bank of Middlebury. Police found that the alarm had been accidentally activated by an NBM employee.
• Assisted the Bristol Rescue Squad with a nonresponsive male on Prince Lane on Aug. 26.
• Tried to located a woman who had reportedly made threats against DCF workers and others involved in the removal of her child from her home and found that she had moved to the Rutland area. Bristol police notified the Vermont State Police.
• Contacted Main Street business owners to update emergency contact information and address other concerns on Aug. 27.
• Received a report at 11:33 a.m. on Aug. 27 from Rite Aid Pharmacy staff who said they saw Anthony Sargent, 52, of Rutland take merchandise from the store. At 12:54 p.m. that day, police responded to Prince Lane where the Bristol Rescue Squad was responding for a non-responsive male. Police said they found Sargent partially unconscious, and the rescue squad transported him to Porter hospital. Police said their investigation at the scene showed Sargent had likely consumed stolen liquor, hard cider and uncooked meat prior to collapsing. He was later charged with retail theft from Rite Aid Pharmacy and Shaw’s Supermarket, from where the liquor, meat and other merchandise apparently had been taken.
Sargent was lodged at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility for lack of bail. The item allegedly stolen in this theft was recovered from his person during that arrest, police said.
At around noon the next day, while conducting follow-up on the thefts, police said they found additional property that was stolen from Martin’s Hardware and Champlain Farms. Charges on this as well as on violation of conditions of release are pending.
• Recovered a stolen bike at a Plank Road address and returned the bike to its owner on Aug. 27.
• On Aug. 27 received a report about a juvenile placing a dead rodent in another juvenile’s shoes. The first juvenile was asked to leave and he did so yelling obscenities. Police sent the case to the state’s attorney for review of possible charges.
• Took action against a driver who had passed a stopped school bus on Aug. 28.
• Responded to a report of an injured animal at the Lord’s Prayer Rock on Aug. 29.
• Spoke with a resident on Aug. 30 at nearly 11 p.m. who wanted information about possible threats to defame her character and if criminal action could be taken. Police are following up.
• Responded to a noise complaint of people yelling on Garfield Street at 12:49 a.m. on Aug. 31.
• Were contracted to help at the installation of the traffic lights downtown on Aug. 31.
• Located a stolen ATV in the yard of a North Street resident and arrested Tyler James Porter, 18, of Ferrisburgh and cited him for possession of stolen property on Aug. 31. Chief Gibbs reported that Porter admitted to stealing the ATV from Greenbush Road in Ferrisburgh before riding it to Bristol, where it was left inoperable. Porter recently pleaded innocent to an Aug. 31 charge of grand larceny greater than $900 in Addison Superior Court, criminal division.
• Received a report on Aug. 31 of a hit and run accident (with property damage) that had occurred in the parking lot on Prince Lane between 8:20 and 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 28.