ADDISON COUNTY — During the morning commute from 8 to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, troopers from the Vermont State Police’s New Haven barracks conducted a saturation patrol on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh with a focus on identifying people using handheld electronic devices while driving.
Troopers stopped eight motor vehicles and found that five drivers were using a handheld electronic device — two of them while driving commercial motor vehicles. As a result, they issued five traffic tickets for cell phone use while driving and wrote three warnings for other violations.
The Vermont State Police are reminding motorists to not use handheld electronic devices while driving; this activity has been found to be a contributing factor in motor vehicle crashes. A driver can be fined $162 and two points on their license for using an electronic device. An individual driving a commercial motor vehicle can be fined $392 and two points assessed.
In other recent activity, Vermont State Police:
•  Jailed two Bristol men on Oct. 11, following a family argument at which police alleged one shot a gun, the other assaulted a family member, and both lied to law enforcement. As reported in Monday’s Addison Independent, Harley Allen, 19, was held at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility due to lack of $15,000 bail, and Anthony Miller, 20, was held on $200 bail.
State police report that during an Oct. 11 argument at a Meehan Road home in Bristol Allen pointed a firearm at family members and discharged it several times. Troopers also reported that Miller had assaulted a family member during this incident.
Troopers cited Allen for aggravated domestic assault with a deadly weapon and providing false information to law enforcement authorities. They cited Miller for domestic assault and providing false information to law enforcement authorities.
•  At around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9, troopers saw a vehicle operating in a negligent manner on Route 7 in New Haven. When a trooper tried to stop the vehicle, its driver — identified as the same Anthony Miller as in the Oct. 11 incident — raced away from police at a high rate of speed.
The chase lasted several miles, but came to an end when Miller’s car drove into a field off New Haven’s Dog Team Road and got stuck.
State police in this case cited Miller for negligent driving and attempting to elude police.
•  On Oct. 15 at approximately 2:30 p.m. stopped a motor vehicle on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh and cited the driver, identified as 41-year-old Jamie Jennings of Port Henry, N.Y., for driving with a criminally suspended license. This came 10 days after state police cited the same man for the same offense on the same road in the same town. Jennings is due to answer the charge on Dec. 17 in Addison Superior Court, criminal division.