ADDISON COUNTY — Vermont State Police are investigating the theft of a steer from a cattle farm on River Road in New Haven.
The farmer on Nov. 28 reported that he is unsure who would have stolen the male bovine, which is black with a white face and of a breed known as “Black Baldy.” He told the trooper that it was a very tame animal, and anyone with a handful of feed could have lured it way from its enclosure.
Anyone with information regarding this steer is asked to contact state police at 802-388-4919. Information can also be submitted anonymously online at www.vtips.info or by texting “CRIMES” (274637) to Keyword: VTIPS.
In other recent activity, troopers:
• On Nov. 21 at approximately 7:32 p.m. responded, with members of the Lincoln Fire Department and Bristol Rescue Squad, to a motor vehicle crash on Forge Hill Road in Lincoln. Police report that the 17-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle on a downhill curve while driving west on the snow and ice covered roadway. The Lincoln resident’s Grand Cherokee left the roadway and collided with a tree, damaging the passenger-side door, roof and hood. The vehicle was removed from the scene by Dupont’s Towing and is likely totaled. This crash remains under investigation.
•  On Nov. 23 at approximately 3:46 a.m. received a report of a one-car crash into a utility pole on River Road in New Haven. By the time state police arrived, the driver, identified as 28-year-old Christopher Gearwar of Hinesburg, had been transported to Porter Hospital for non-life threatening injuries — specifically sore extremities and neck. When a trooper later interviewed Gearwar, Gearwar said he was driving a 1997 Toyota Camry southbound on River Road at approximately 40 mph when he looked down briefly at his phone and when he looked backed up he saw the utility pole. The Camry struck the pole and overturned. Gearwar’s vehicle was totaled. Police said that neither alcohol nor drugs played a factor in the crash.
•  On Nov. 23 at just before 8 p.m. stopped a motor vehicle at the intersection of Silver Street and States Prison Hollow Road in Monkton. police cited the driver, 18-year-old Harley Allen of Bristol, for driving with a criminally suspended driver’s license.
•  On Nov. 25 stopped a motor vehicle after observing a traffic violation on Route 73 West, at the intersection of Brown Lane. The trooper cited the driver, Nicholas Parent, 36, of Orwell, for driving with a criminally suspended license.
•  On Nov. 26 at around 7 p.m. responded to a family disturbance at a Ferrisburgh home. A neighbor told troopers that he saw a woman who lived there with red marks on her face and chest. Police investigated and determined that 27-year-old Brandon Bothwell of Ferrisburgh and the woman had an argument that turned physical and the woman sustained minor injuries. The woman told troopers that Bothwell slapped her face and punched her in the chest, knocking her over onto the porch of the house and pulling her by her feet back into the house as she tried to escape. Bothwell fled the scene and turned himself into Shelburne police the following day, Nov. 27. Police cited Bothwell for domestic assault and lodged him at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility with bail set at $2,500.
•  While conducting a directed patrol on Nov. 28 concentrating on impaired and suspended drivers on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh, stopped a vehicle driven by Justin Bassett, 40, of Vergennes for an expired vehicle registration. Police cited Bassett for driving with criminally suspended license, seized the vehicle’s registration plates, and had the vehicle towed.