Chester Police arrest armed road rage suspect Two songs and a cellphone picture aid in the arrest

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC

In a case that a Chester officer described as an example of how technology can help in crime investigations, police arrested a 19-year-old Bellows Falls man who allegedly brandished a gun in a road rage incident on Route 11 on Thursday.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, 911 dispatchers received a call from a Honda CRV traveling east on Route 11 between Londonderry and Windham. The occupants – three college students on their way home to Massachusetts – told the dispatcher that they were being followed by a Subaru Crosstrek that was tailgating, flashing lights and honking.  According to a Chester Police press release, the driver of the Subaru — Tyler Thomas — was near Richardson Road when he passed the car and stopped, blocking the car’s way.

Police say that Thomas then tried to engage the Honda driver in a fight. When the driver would not leave his car, Thomas allegedly pointed a gun at them and drove west. According to scanner traffic on Thursday, police searched the area between Chester and Manchester. And that’s where technology came into play.

Chester officer Lee Herrington told The Telegraph that the cell call gave police the location of the car at that moment, but he was looking for where the altercation had begun. The occupants of the car could describe the surroundings, but didn’t know area landmarks. When Herrington asked the occupants how long they had been driving since leaving the confrontation, they said “two songs ago,” according to their playlist. They also had a photo of Thomas’ car from when they said he was blocking their way.

On Friday, Herrington was following up on the information, traveling “two songs” or about seven minutes by his estimate from the coordinates of the cellphone call. He stopped at a home that fit the description from the Massachusetts students, which turned out to be a relative of Thomas.

On his way back to Chester, Herrington saw Thomas driving on Route 11 and stopped him. Herrington said Thomas was cooperative and taken into custody without incident. A loaded semi-automatic pistol was taken from Thomas as evidence, and police are investigating to see whether he owned the gun legally.

Thomas was processed at the Chester Police station and released on a citation to appear in Windsor Criminal Court on Monday, Feb. 26.