Police Log Dec. 1, 2014 – March 1, 2015

Editor’s Note: The Chester Telegraph Police Log is a sampling of incidents directly from Chester Police reports. We do not identify individual victims of crimes nor those who have been arrested.

Monday, Dec. 1, 11:25 a.m.

Police responded to ongoing behavior of a juvenile at Chester Andover Elementary School, including hitting with fists, making weapons and smearing feces. The behavior had been getting progressively worse, and the police have asked DCF to take action in this case, in which an unmanageable child has injured teachers and other students on a weekly basis. The Police Department was unable to take action because of the age of the child. At the time of this report, the child has been removed from the school and taken to HCRS for evaluation.

Monday, Dec. 29, 12:49 p.m.

Based on a tip by an off-duty officer, Chester Police responded to the Sunoco Station on Main Street where a person with an outstanding arrest warrant was sitting in a truck in the parking lot. Officers approached the truck and took the subject into custody. A passenger in the truck acted nervous and when the second officer noticed a rifle on the seat he asked her to get out of the truck. An initial search and a later warrant search found a large number of hypodermic needles and pipes for smoking drugs, plus a crystal substance that the subject identified as bath salts and other drug related objects. The first subject was taken to Southern State Prison on the arrest warrants. The second was cited for possession and for violations of conditions of release.

Thursday, Jan. 15, 1:57 p.m.

A resident of Gassetts reported that she was receiving phone calls late a night. VTel reports that the only calls were from the previous day. The officer responding spoke with the woman and her son to see what might be happening. It was noted that a cordless phone was shorting out. The officer suggested replacing the phones and since that was done, there have been no further problems.

Friday, Jan. 16, 8:30 p.m.

A Chester officer on patrol made a speeding stop and knew the registered owner to have his license criminally suspended. The vehicle was being operated by a woman whose license was expired and the car uninspected and uninsured. The woman was issued a citation and the vehicle removed by a licensed operator.

Saturday, Jan 17, 11:20 p.m.

Alerted by an off-duty officer, Chester Police responded to the report of a woman walking with a blanket over her head on Route 35 at Popple Dungeon Road. The woman said she was on her way from Townshend to her residence in Chester. It came to light that she had crashed her car up the road but was driving on a criminally suspended license. The woman was taken into custody for suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and criminal driving on a suspended license. At the Rockingham barracks, drug impairment was ruled out, she was processed and given a ride to her residence.

Sunday, Jan. 18, 2:33 p.m.

A Chester resident called police to say that the road leading up to her house off River Street was icy and she could not make it up by car and she was afraid to walk up the hill. The police responded and gave her a ride with a four wheel drive cruiser.

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 11:59 p.m.

A Chester officer stopped a car that he knew to be uninsured and uninspected from previous stops. The operator had been issued a citation on Jan 16 and was told she had gotten a break. She explained that she was driving the car to the shop to get it taken care of. The car was towed and the driver was cited for the lack of inspection. The driver was given until Friday to take care of the violations or she would get a second citation for no license and no insurance.

Monday, Jan. 29, 9:15 p.m.

A mother called police to say that she had dropped her daughter off at Green Mountain Union High School, then received a call to say the girl was absent. An officer went to the school and met with an official who said the mother had received an automatic call, but that he had seen the girl that morning. A check of her class found her there and officials could not explain how the girl got on the call list. The mother was contacted to advise her that her daughter was  fine.

Tuesday, Jan. 30, 7:03 p.m.

Two Chester Police officers in separate vehicles searched for car that was reportedly being operated erratically on Route 103 North. The car was not found, but later Springfield Police stopped an 80-year-old woman operating the vehicle in question.

Sunday, Feb. 1, 1:37 p.m.

Police responded to a fire/burglar alarm near North Avenue to find the fire department on the scene. Apparently, the door of the wood stove had opened after the residents had gone to bed. When the smoke alarm sounded, they tried to stop it and inadvertently armed the burglar alarm and set off the motion detector.

Friday, Feb. 6, 2:30 a.m.

Police responded to a burglar alarm at a commercial building on Route 103 South. The officer checked the outside of the building, but the dispatcher advised that no one with a key was responding. The officer reported that the building looked secure.

Sunday, Feb. 8, 7:07 p.m.

An officer pulling out onto Route 10 encountered a vehicle that swerved to avoid the police cruiser. The operator of the other vehicle drove into the snow on the shoulder of the road and hit a mailbox denting the “I am Vermont Strong” license plate. The driver was unhurt, but his 4×4 was stuck. He rocked it back and forth until the gear linkage came loose. A tow truck was called to pull the vehicle out of the deep snow and with the linkage re-attached, the car could be driven away under its own power. The owner of the mail box reported that it was already broken.

Monday, Feb. 9, 12:13 p.m.

A Chester resident reported that she had received a phone call saying she was about to be served court papers and needed to take care of the case immediately. She said the tone of the call was threatening. She called the Windsor County court system and was told this was a scam and to report it to local police.

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 8:09 a.m.

A woman called to report that she was being stalked by someone who had left harassing and threatening voicemails. Officer told her to come into the station so the police could transcribe the messages, then they could press charges against the caller. The woman never came in.

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 10:39 a.m.

An officer was sent, per the town manager, to tell a resident off of Church Street that he needed to stop plowing his snow across the road from his drive or he would be ticketed.

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 11:28 a.m.

A driver who was turning around behind the railroad station on Depot Street thought the snow covered tracks were flat ground and in pulling around became stuck on the tracks. The officer responding advised the dispatcher who contacted the railroad to stop trains. A tow truck pulled the vehicle off the tracks and the officer helped the woman reload bags of sand that she had removed from her vehicle during the incident.

Thursday Feb. 12, 12:11 p.m.

Police responded to the scene of an accident where a car heading east on Route 11 was struck by ice and snow flying off a tractor trailer traveling west. The driver of the car was injured when the ice broke the windshield and hit her in the face. She was unable to see, but her husband in the passenger seat was able to steer the car into a driveway. The driver of the truck was unaware of the incident but was stopped by a witness. He told police he had left Wells, Maine, that morning and that the company he worked for had a device for cleaning the tops of trucks before they leave.

Tuesday, Feb. 17

On Feb. 11 a car parked in the road was blocking access to emergency vehicles for the homes nearby. The responding officer looked for the owner, but she could not be found. The car – which was uninspected and had bald tires – was towed and impounded with the instructions not to release it until the Police Department was contacted. On Feb. 17 the officer inquired about the car to find that it had been released. The officer asked why the car was released to the owner and was told that “well … she was annoying.”

Thursday, Feb. 19, 10:40 p.m.

A resident along Route 103 North reported that about an hour earlier, he heard his front door open and found a woman babbling about wanting to buy the contents of one of his buildings. She asked to wash her hands and went into the bathroom. Then she hurried out of the residence. In checking the bathroom, the man found that two small jars of polished stones were missing.

Sunday, March 1, 1:06 p.m.

A car with a temporary registration crashed on North Street. The operator told police that she had purchased the car from a dealer in Castleton and that the dealer’s wrecker was on the way. The officer advised her that the car could not stay in the road that long. A local tow truck was called and the driver explained that she had been driving through town when she heard a loud noise and slowed down. Then the wheel fell off damaging the knuckle, brakes, front fender and rim.