BRISTOL — A Bristol police officer’s observation on Aug. 8 of Patrick Cota, 24, of Bristol and Melissa Sird, 35, of Ferrisburgh together at a Bristol business started a chain of police actions.
Police report that their investigation showed that Cota and Sird were under court-ordered conditions of release that prevented each with having contact with the other. On Aug. 9 an officer found Cota at his West Street home and also searched the home and found Sird there. The officer took them both into custody without incident.
The officer cited each of them for violating conditions of release and lodged them both at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility for lack of $2,500 bail.
Also on Aug. 9, police contacted Tina Marie Cota, 48, at her Bristol residence as part of an active criminal investigation. Police alleged that Cota gave them false information, indicating that the subjects of interest were not at her residence, though they were, in fact, at the Cota residence.
Police cited Tina Marie Cota giving false information to law enforcement
In a separate incident, Bristol police got a notice to “Be on the lookout” Kaleb J. Gorton, 25, of New Haven on July 31 following a domestic incident. A Bristol officer spotted Gorton on Lower Notch Road in Bristol, stopped him, took him into custody and cited him for driving with a criminally suspended license (DLS). Vermont State Police also cited Gorton for another DLS charge that had occurred in New Haven.
Between July 31 and Aug. 6, Bristol police:
•  Completed four town-contracted traffic patrols covering Hewitt Road and Route 116. Police issued two tickets and one warning for speeding and one warning for illumination required.
•  Checked security at Mount Abraham Union High School on Aug. 1, 2, 3 and 5.
•  Conducted twice-daily foot patrols of Main Street and the surrounding area on Aug. 1, 2, 4 and 5. On Aug. 2, police conducted a third patrol at 8:25 p.m. On Aug. 6, police conducted foot patrol at around 10:30 p.m. and helped secure a building left unlocked.
•  Processed requests fingerprints on Aug. 2 and 4, for a total of three individuals.
In other recent activity, Bristol police:
•  Responded to a fire alarm at a district residence on July 31.
•  Conducted bike patrol in the district on July 31.
•  Began an investigation into reported criminal activity involving the internet on July 31.
•  Responded to Stoney Hill Road where a white pickup was reported as causing a traffic issue on July 31. Police found no problem and no white pickup.
•  Attended a training on street-level interdiction tactics on Aug. 1.
•  Attended traffic court, on Aug. 1, for tickets issued on town-contracted patrols. All contested tickets were resolved.
•  Responded to a traffic accident on Park Place on Aug. 1. One vehicle hit another and left the scene without stopping. Police are working to identify that driver.
•  Conducted a quarterly sex offender registry check on a non-district Bristol resident on Aug. 2. Police found that the offender now lives in Lincoln and advised the Addison County Unit for Special Investigations and the Vermont Sex Offender Registry of the offender’s address.
•  Attended a training hosted by the Rutland City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Aug. 3.
•  Provided back up for a state trooper on Aug. 3. The Bristol officer helped calm a violator and his father at the scene.
•  Helped remove someone stuck in the elevator at MAUHS on Aug. 3.
•  Helped resolve a couple’s verbal disagreement on Aug. 4.
•  Recovered a small (civil offense) amount of marijuana during a consent search of a vehicle on North Street on Aug. 4, and issued a ticket. In Vermont, possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is a civil offense.
•  Helped a citizen find their keys after a Holley Hall event on Aug. 4.
•  Responded to a call requesting police assistance with a child exchange on Aug. 5 at 11:35 a.m. The person called again to say they had completed the exchange without incident.
•  Helped resolve a family dispute over child visitation on Aug. 5.
•  Completed and served a no trespass order against an individual on Aug. 6. The order had been requested by a district business.
•  Completed a Governor’s Highway Safety Program patrol in Bristol and the surrounding area during Tour de Farms bike ride on Aug. 6.
•  Responded to a medical alert activated by a district resident on Aug. 6.