VERGENNES — After three bicycles were stolen from Vergennes homes between July 25 and 29, a rash of thefts that followed a series of earlier car break-ins throughout the city, Vergennes Police Chief George Merkel is again asking residents to be careful about property security.
Merkel earlier this week urged residents to lock their cars, homes and garages, especially at night, and also asked anyone who sees anything suspicious to call Vergennes police at 877-1152.
The bicycles were reported taken from a Short Street home on July 25, a South Maple Street porch on July 27, and a West Street residence on the 29th.
In other incidents between July 23 and 29, Vergennes police:
On July 24:
•  Heard from a First Street resident who was worried she had left something on a stove burner; police entered the home through a window to check it out and found out all was OK.
•  Issued a motorist a civil ticket for driving with a suspended license at a Main Street traffic stop.
On July 25:
•  Helped a motorist get into a locked vehicle on Main Street.
•  Responded to the Aubuchon Hardware parking lot to check out a report of a woman unloading belongings from a car with a Florida license plate; police learned she was planning to bug-proof the car because she was concerned she might have brought cockroaches with her from the Sunshine State.
•  Went to the Otter Creek falls to check a report that an unhappy woman might throw herself off the bridge. Police found her in Falls Park and persuaded to return to the police station to meet with the Counseling Service of Addison County, and eventually she returned to her home.
On July 26:
•  Provided information to the Middlebury office of probation and parole about a local resident.
•  Checked out a report of a possible assault at Northlands Job Corps involving two students and determined there was no offense committed, although a female student had slapped a male student.
On July 27:
•  Helped a motorist get into a locked vehicle in Booth Woods.
•  Conducted a basic background check for the U.S. Army.
•  Calmed a group of arguing Walker Avenue residents involved in an ongoing dispute over what police called minor issues; police planned to meet with them again on Monday.
•  Found to be unfounded a woman’s claim that she had been inappropriately touched when she was escorted from the City Limits nightclub by a bouncer after she refused to leave; police said witnesses did not support the story told by the woman, whom police described as intoxicated.
On July 28:
•  Gave a ride home to a West Main Street resident they found staggering on School Street; police said the man’s blood-alcohol content tested at 0.235, and they left him in the care of a family member. For the sake of comparison, the legal blood alcohol limit for driving is 0.08.
•  Followed a half-dozen teens acting suspiciously on School Street and confronted them when they jumped into the city pool; police said the youths ran off into the nearby woods.
On July 29:
•  Calmed a dispute at a Hillside Drive apartment between a woman and her husband and his grandmother.
•  Looked unsuccessfully for a pickup truck reported to be speeding on Hopkins Road.