Crime
Vermont State Police Log: Man jailed for alleged assault
ADDISON COUNTY — Vermont State Police put a Keene, N.H., man in jail with bail set at $10,000 early Saturday morning for allegedly assaulting three people in Bristol.
On July 2 at around 2:25 a.m. troopers were called to a disturbance on Carterville Road in Bristol. Offices said they investigated and determined that 22-year-old Isaac Crawford of Keene, N.H., was high on methamphetamine when he entered two homes of people who he did not know; the owners of both homes were asleep. Apparently, Crawford unsuccessfully swung a baseball bat at one of the homeowners, and a pickaxe at a neighbor, who came out of his residence to assist.
State police arrested Crawford, took him to the New Haven barracks for processing and cited him for aggravated assault and felony unlawful trespassing. They then lodged Crawford at the Northwest Regional Correctional Facility.
Troopers were assisted on scene by the Bristol Rescue Squad and Middlebury Regional EMS for precautionary evaluations.
Separately, troopers responded to a report of a man slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle stopped on Route 125 in Ripton at around 11 p.m. on June 2. Officers roused the driver, identified as Steven Drebber, 60, of Woodstock, and noted signs that he was impaired. They screened Drebber, took him to the New Haven barracks and cited him for driving under the influence. Then they released him to a sober person.
Meanwhile, on Friday, July 1, Vermont State Police marked the 75th anniversary of the agency’s creation. State leaders established the Vermont State Police on July 1, 1947, in the aftermath of the disappearance of Paula Jean Welden, an 18-year-old Bennington College student who vanished the year before. When local officials were unsuccessful in pursuing the case, they called in state police investigators from Connecticut and New York — because Vermont had no similar agency. The case, which remains unsolved, rallied Vermonters and their political leadership to finally launch the Vermont State Police after many years of hesitation and debate.
In 1947, Vermont turned to former U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Merritt Edson as the first commissioner of the newly formed Department of Public Safety, the parent agency of the Vermont State Police. His military background led him to fashion a rank structure and model the state police’s uniforms after those of the Marines. On Day 1, the state police employed 55 troopers and seven civilians.
Today, the Vermont State Police employs about 290 sworn troopers and 90 civilians, who operate out of headquarters in Waterbury and 10 field stations from just south of the Canadian border to just north of the Massachusetts state line. VSP has an authorized strength of 333 troopers and currently is hiring.
The Vermont State Police marked the occasion by unveiling commemorative license plates for each cruiser and badges for state troopers. These items will be displayed throughout the 75th anniversary year during 2022-23.
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