ADDISON COUNTY — Patrick Brace, 53, faces multiple charges resulting from several incidents that Vermont State Police investigated on Halloween.
Before noon on Oct. 31, troopers were called to a report of vandalism in Monkton, and while on the way to Monkton received a separate report of vandalism in Bristol.
Police said they learned that Brace, whom state police described as a Panton resident and as homeless in separate press releases, was attempting to get money he felt he was owed at a Monkton location, and he shattered a window there and left. Brace reportedly then drove to Bristol and confronted a longtime friend and coworker. Words were exchanged and Brace ultimately shattered the driver’s side window of the second victim’s vehicle, police report.
Troopers located Brace, took him to the New Haven state police barracks for processing, cited him for two counts of unlawful mischief, and let him go. But state police weren’t done with him.
About a quarter to midnight that evening, state police were called to assist Bristol police in their pursuit of a black Chevy truck that started in Bristol and ended in Panton when officers lost sight of the vehicle. Police suspected that Brace was behind the wheel of the truck.
While in the area of Route 22A in Panton, the state police received a call from an individual who said Brace had contacted them via text message, which was a violation of a restraining order. State police, Bristol police and Vergennes police continued to search for Brace. VSP received another report that Brace had contacted the person again, and the person said Brace had run out of gas in Cornwall and needed assistance.
A short time later the state police received another phone call from a driver who had encountered a man in a black truck who had run out of gas on Route 125 near Foote Farm Road in Cornwall.
State police and Middlebury police travelled to the area to look for Brace’s truck, and, as they approached the scene, Middlebury officers saw a car slow down near Brace’s vehicle and then drive off before officers could get there. Officers from the Middlebury, Vergennes and the state police departments stopped the car, found Brace, and took him into custody.
State police took Brace to the New Haven barracks, cited him for violation of a restraining order, simple assault and unlawful mischief and lodged him at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail.
Separately, state police on Nov. 1 announced they had wrapped up investigation into two related incidents in Salisbury that resulted in citations being issued to three people.
Trooper Hein reports that on Sept. 22 at approximately 12:30 p.m. Vermont State Police responded to the report of a citizen dispute at a Salisbury home that occurred after Erica Fitzgerald, 28, of Rutland came into the residence uninvited, refused to leave and started an altercation. After investigating with the Addison County State’s Attorney’s Office troopers cited Erica Fitzgerald with burglary and simple assault, and also cited two others with simple assault: Kayla Fitzgerald, 28, of Rutland and Ethan Newton, 26, of Salisbury.
Trooper Hein further reported that on Sept. 30 at approximately 4:30 p.m. state police were dispatched to a report of a domestic assault at a Salisbury home. Troopers determined that Erica and Kayla Fitzgerald got into an altercation over dinner, and a household member suffered injury as a result of the altercation. Police cited both Fitzgeralds with domestic assault.
All three parties who were cited are due to answer charges in Addison Superior Court, criminal division, on Dec. 18.
Meanwhile, a detective trooper from the Vermont Bureau of Criminal Investigation on Nov. 2 received a request from law enforcement in Florida to arrest a Lincoln man and send him to Florida to face possession of child pornography charges there.
State police here in Vermont said Florida officers searched the Orlando, Fla., home of 80-year-old Donald Noble and found evidence to support probable cause charging Noble with multiple counts of sexual performance by a child. The VSP detective troopers located Noble at a residence in Lincoln, took him into custody as a fugitive from justice, and lodged him at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility for lack of $50,000 bail.
Noble last month pleaded innocent to a Vermont child pornography charge that was leveled after police raided his Lincoln residence and seized more than 100 DVDs.
In other recent activity, Vermont State Police:
•  On Oct. 24 at approximately 3:50 p.m. stopped a vehicle driven by 30-year-old Kyle Little of Starksboro in Huntington and cited him for driving with a criminally suspended license.
•  On Nov. 2 at around 12:50 p.m. responded to multiple-vehicle crash on Route 22A in Bridport. Police report that Monique Leroy, 34, of Moriah, N.Y. was driving southbound too fast for a curve in the road and the rear end of her vehicle slid into the northbound lane striking a northbound vehicle and narrowly avoiding a collision with another northbound vehicle. Police allege that Leroy was driving drunk and that her preliminary blood alcohol content tested at 0.109 percent; the legal limit for driving is 0.08. Police cited Leroy for driving under the influence of alcohol, first offense.
•  On Nov. 4 observed a traffic violation and stopped a vehicle driven by Stephanie Brace, 28, of Ripton on Main Street in Vergennes at 11 minutes past midnight. State police cited Stephanie Brace for driving under the influence and driving with a criminally suspended license.
•  On Nov. 5 at approximately 12:37 a.m. stopped a motor vehicle stop on South Street in Bristol after observing several traffic infractions. State police identified the driver as Frederick A. Goodrich, 31, of Bristol and cited him for driving under the influence.
•  On Nov. 5 at around 8 15 p.m., assisted by New Haven fire and rescue, responded to the crash of a Ford F-150 into a utility pole on Main Street in New Haven. It was a rainy night with wet road conditions. Police cited Patrick Bernier, 25, of Crown Point, N.Y., for DUI. No injuries occurred in this crash.
•  On Nov. 6 reported on an Oct. 1 report of an assault in North Ferrisburgh. Shelburne Police Department located suspect William T. McGuinness, 37, of Burlington and cited him for simple assault.
•  On Nov. 6 at 7:55 a.m. responded to a two-car motor crash at the intersection of Route 78 and River Road in New Haven.
Troopers’ preliminary investigation indicated that Wendell Jennings, 74, of Starksboro was driving a 2005 Chevy Silverado pickup westbound on River Road and had momentarily stopped for the stop sign at the Route 7 intersection. Police said Jennings travelled into the intersection and into the path of a 2005 Dodge Caravan minivan driven by David Carpenter, 30, of Middlebury. The weather was cloudy and the road was wet.
The two vehicles collided resulting in significant damage to both vehicles. Carpenter and his passenger were transported to Porter Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Neither Jennings nor his passenger were injured.
This crash remains under investigation.
•  On Nov. 6 at around 5 p.m. dealt with a full-size tractor-trailer blocking both lanes of travel on Route 22A at the intersection of Walmarth Road in Addison, which stopped traffic stop in all directions. Policed that driver Ulysses Coleman, 61, of Crestview, Fla., had missed a turn and was attempting to turn around when the cab of the truck became stuck in the soft shoulder of the roadway. A heavy wrecker pulled the truck back onto the roadway and all lanes of traffic were opened again after two hours of being closed.
•  On Nov. 6 responded to Shoales Drive in Orwell to assist in an investigation of an incident that had occurred in West Haven. Police ended up citing Daryn Lowell, 27, of Orwell for driving under the influence, second offense.
Vermont State Police release a daily log of a selection of their activities. In Addison County, those activities included:
•  Oct. 31, directed patrol, Routes 22A and 17, Addison.
•  Oct. 31, vandalism, Basin Harbor Road, Bridport.
•  Oct. 31, vandalism, River Road, Bristol.
•  Oct. 31, mental health assistance, Pulp Mill Bridge Road, Weybridge.
•  Oct. 31, citizen dispute, Route 22A, Panton.
•  Nov. 1, fraud, Gove Hill Road, Lincoln.
•  Nov. 2, animal problem, Lemon Fair Road, Weybridge.
•  Nov. 2, citizen assist, West Road, Whiting.
•  Nov. 2, larceny, Jersey Street, Ferrisburgh.
•  Nov. 3, alarm, Russell Young Road, Starksboro.
•  Nov. 3, directed patrol, Routes 7 and 22A.
•  Nov. 3, citizen dispute, Route 7, New Haven.
•  Nov. 3, directed patrol, Route 7 and Maple Run Road, Leicester.
•  Nov. 3, consent search, Route 7, Salisbury.
•  Nov. 3, mental health assistance, West Salisbury Road, Salisbury.
•  Nov. 3, directed patrol, Route 7 and Monkton Road, Ferrisburgh.
•  Nov. 4, false alarm, Russell Young Road, Starksboro.
•  Nov. 4, suspicious person, Route 17, Starksboro.
•  Nov. 4, agency assist, Smead Road, Salisbury.
•  Nov. 4 directed patrol, Route 7 and 30, Middlebury.
•  Nov. 5, motor vehicle disturbance, Boro Hill Road, Monkton.
•  Nov. 5, citizen assist, Leicester-Whiting Road, Whiting.
•  Nov. 5, citizen assist, Estey Road, Bristol.
•  Nov. 5 agency assist, Green Street, Vergennes.
•           Nov. 5, suspicious person, Route 22A, Orwell.