VERGENNES — On April 20 the Vergennes Police Department’s K9 unit joined four other law enforcement agencies in doing a drug sweep of three Northlands Job Corps dormitories.
According to Vergennes Police Chief George Merkel, police dogs alerted to the presence of drugs, but a search of the three buildings did not turn up any contraband.
Also participating in the search were personnel from the Vermont State Police, Fair Haven Police Department, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Vermont Police K9 Academy, Merkel said.
In other action from April 17 to April 23, Vergennes police:
•  On April 17 looked unsuccessfully for a tractor-trailer truck reported to have run a red light at the intersection of Routes 7 and 22A while honking its horn at motorists.
•  On April 17 helped a car owner get into a locked vehicle on Main Street.
•  In response to complaints, on April 17 patrolled the Hopkins Road area and conducted a half-dozen traffic stops.
•  On April 17 spoke to a pellet gun owner on Meigs Road who accidentally shot an acquaintance in the lower leg while horsing around; police told him to be more careful. The victim was not seriously hurt, they said.
•  On April 18 helped state police by directing traffic at an accident at the intersection of Route 7 and Greenbush Road in Ferrisburgh.
•  On April 19 went to Armory Lane, where a bunch of old car parts were dumped on a property; police said there were no indications of who did the dumping.
•  On April 20 cited a driver on Main Street for a fictitious inspection sticker.
•  On April 20 checked city schools and locked a door found open at the high school.
•  On April 20 cited Henry Wintz-Burgess, 40, of Plantation, Fla., for driving under the influence of alcohol and driving the wrong way down a one-way street (East Street). Police said his evidentiary blood-alcohol content came in at 0.048, within legal limit of 0.08, but that test was delayed after a lengthy discussion in which they allege Wintz-Burgess was less than cooperative. They also alleged he showed other signs of intoxication.
•  On April 21 had a youth, 17, evaluated for being under the influence of drugs after his father brought him to the station. The department Drug Recognition Expert determined he had taken drugs, and called the Vergennes Area Rescue Squad to make sure he was safe to release back to his parents’ custody. Police said VARS cleared him to go home to Charlotte with his family.
•  On April 21 dealt with a barking dog complaint on South Maple Street.
•  On April 22 helped a New Jersey department that called because they found plates belonging to a Main Street resident on a car involved in a burglary in Franklinborough, N.J. Vergennes police could not find the resident.
•           On April 23 cited Evan Howard, 23, for retail theft for walking out of Champlain Farms without paying for a Twisted Tea. Police said he was intoxicated and uncooperative when they found him walking away from the store, and they took him to the Act 1 detoxification facility in Burlington, where Howard was refused entry, allegedly because he was combative. Police then lodged him at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility.