VERGENNES — Vergennes police are warning local residents not to respond to blackmail emails threatening to release video of recipients in compromising positions. 
According to city police they and other Vermont law enforcement agencies have received multiple reports of an email scam in which recipients are asked for money in exchange for videos that show the recipients engaging in sexual acts. 
Police said senders do not have videos of recipients and advise them not to send money and instead to contact the police department with any concerns. City police received complaints on April 28 from a Main Street resident and on May 2 from a Panton Road resident about receiving such blackmail emails. 
Between April 27 and May 3, Vergennes police also conducted 19 motorized patrols and two foot patrols, and accompanied the nightly clang-and-bang parades. 
During those seven days, city police also:
On April 27: 
•  Assisted a female who requested information about a no-trespass order that had been served on another woman.
•  Received a complaint of a tractor-trailer truck being operated erratically on Main Street. Police couldn’t find the vehicle but requested a be-on-the-lookout alert for the southbound vehicle.
On April 28 investigated a minor two-vehicle accident on Short Street.
On April 29 handled a one-vehicle accident at the intersection of Routes 7 and 22A; police said the vehicle left the road and struck a sign.
On April 30 responded to a report of gravel and sand being left behind in the car wash on New Haven Road; police said the owner of the vehicle in question apologized because he did not think there was that much material in the back of his truck.
On May 1: 
•  Looked for a mentally challenged man who had left his Hillside Acres residence and was not immediately found; police were later notified he was found.
•  Assisted a Main Street resident who had questions about an altercation between his children and his ex-wife.
•  Responded to a report of an impaired male at the Champlain Farms Store who claimed to be kidnapped. Police said the male had been on his way to Burlington to seek medical assistance, and that the Vergennes Area Rescue Squad transported the male to the hospital for evaluation.
On May 2: 
•  Assisted the Vergennes Fire Department with a vehicle leaking gasoline at the Dollar General Store in Ferrisburgh.
•  Responded to the John Graham Shelter for the report of a young child who had come into the shelter looking for his father. Police were told the child’s father had picked him up before they arrived. They contacted the father and child, and the father said he had parked by the post office and had gone inside, leaving the child in the car, and when he came out the child was gone. Police determined the child was OK and released him to his father
•  Checked out a report on New Haven Road of a dog that appeared to be malnourished; police spoke to its owner, who told them the dog was very old and had an eating disorder. Police determined there was no animal abuse.
•  Responded to a minor two-vehicle collision in a Booska Court driveway.