ADDISON COUNTY — Vermont State Police cited a Whiting man for domestic assault after he allegedly struck a woman several times in the face in the North Main Street area of Whiting on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Wanfre Miranda, 23, was arrested that afternoon and lodged at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility on $1,000 bail.
It was at around 4:30 p.m. that state police responded to a report of the alleged assault in Whiting. Police located Miranda, along with the woman whom they later identified as the alleged victim. A VSP investigation concluded that Miranda had an argument with the woman that became “physical.” Miranda is alleged to have struck the woman several times in the face, causing what police described as “severe trauma.”
Police said they determined Miranda to have been the “dominant aggressor” in the affray.
Police said both Miranda and the woman were taken to the hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Only a few days later, state police reported on another case in which they put a suspect in jail with a sizable bail
On Saturday, Sept. 24, at approximately 3:48 p.m. troopers responded to a report of a family fight on Hand Road in Ferrisburgh.
After an investigation, probable cause was found to charge Daniel Averill, 24, of Ferrisburgh with violating a final relief from abuse order. Averill was lodged at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail.
In other recent activity, state police:
•  On Sept. 20, at around 6:30 a.m. responded to a field on Ferson Road in Leicester for the report of a man who was passed out in his vehicle. Troopers found Mathew Billings, 33, of Forest Dale in the driver’s seat of the vehicle with the key in the ignition. A slight odor of an alcoholic beverage emitted from the vehicle, police report. Billings submitted to a series of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests as well as a Preliminary Breath Test; the latter showed a blood alcohol content of 0.097 percent. The legal limit for driving is 0.08. The trooper cited Billings for driving under the influence and with driving with a criminally suspended license.
•  On Sept. 21, at approximately 11:12 a.m. were told of a two-car collision near the intersection of Route 7 and Hunt Road in New Haven, not far from the state police barracks. Troopers report that Kristin Mestyan, 50, of Fair Haven was driving a 2007 Toyota Camry northbound on Route 7 at approximately 15-20 mph. Mestyan told police that she was slowing down due to road construction and that she briefly looked down to grab her coffee; when she looked up, Mestyan could see that the vehicle in front of her had stopped. Mestyan said she attempted to stop, but rear-ended the vehicle in front of her, a 2015 Nissan driven by Timothy Trombley, 55, of Leicester.
Mestyan’s Toyota sustained moderate front-end damage; Trombley’s Nissan sustained minor rear contact damage. No one was injured. Police said neither drugs nor alcohol played a factor in the collision.
•  On Sept. 21, at approximately 4:30 a.m. responded with the Vergennes Fire Department and Vergennes Area Rescue Squad to a tractor-trailer crash on Route 22A near West Road in Panton. Police report that 53-year-old Clifton Petteway of Waterbury, Conn., was driving the big rig northbound when he drifted off the travelled portion of the northbound lane, attempted to correct the vehicle and the truck and trailer attachment overturned on its right side off the travelled portion of the roadway. There were no injuries in this incident.
•  On Sept. 21, at just before 6 p.m. stopped a car driving by 38-year-old Sidney E. Messick Jr. of Vergennes for driving with a cell phone in his hand while looking down at it — a violation of Title 23 VSA Section 1095(b). Police said numerous bicyclists were riding in the area at the time.
During the stop it was found that Messick’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle in Vermont was suspended, and that he had five prior convictions for driving with a criminally suspended license. Police cited him for a sixth instance of driving with a criminally suspended license, and issued him a ticket for cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle, which carries a $162 fine.
•  On Sept. 21 were notified of a possible conditions of release violation. After an investigation, police determined that 31-year-old Caleb Clegg of Rochester had violated is 24-hour curfew. Troopers arrested Clegg on Route 100 in Hancock and lodged him at the Southern State Correctional Facility.
•  On Sept. 22 at just past 10 a.m. went to a one-car crash at the intersection of Route 116 and States Prison Hollow Road in Starksboro. State police arrived on scene and identified the driver of a 2013 Hyundai Elantra as Keenan Kurt, 27, of Starksboro. Kurt told the trooper that prior to the collision he was travelling downhill on a private drive at approximately 10-15 mph when a mason jar he had in his vehicle fell onto the floor of his vehicle and became lodged underneath his brake pedal and, as a result, he could not stop his car. Kurt told police that instead of travelling onto Route 116, he turned into a small, decorative stone wall on the property. No injuries were reported but Kurt’s Elantra sustained heavy front-end damage. Alcohol or drugs did not play a factor in the collision, police said.
•  On Sept. 24 at approximately 6:18 a.m. got a report of a one-car rollover crash on Jerusalem Road in Starksboro. Upon arrival, troopers could not find anyone near or around the vehicle, a Chevy Tracker that was totaled. Police said their follow up investigation showed that 18-year-old Jonathan Gay of Starksboro was the driver of the vehicle. Gay told police that he fell asleep behind the wheel. Evidence indicates that Gay’s vehicle struck a small woodpile before overturning. Gay reported no injuries. State police do not believe alcohol or drugs played a factor in the collision.
•  On Sept. 24, at approximately 10:45 a.m. responded to a two-car crash on Route 22A in Addison. Police report that Elizabeth Pettrone, 56, of Rochester, N.Y. was driving a 2016 Subaru CrossTrek southbound when she passed two vehicles on the left side of the travelled portion of the southbound lane and collided with a 2004 Toyota that was trying to make a left-hand turn onto Wilmarth Road. The driver of the Toyota, Jordan Debevoise, 26, of South Woodstock, was uninjured, but the car sustained moderate damage. Pettrone was transported by the Vergennes Area Rescue Squad to Porter Medical Center to be treated for unspecified injuries.