Suspect found with crack cocaine had been charged with assaulting occupants of home he took over

by Guy Page

A Jan. 6 search of a Hartland residence led to the seizure of crack cocaine and the arrest of a Montpelier man wanted on a felony warrant for a 2025 charge in which he is accused of taking over a home and assaulting the occupants.

This week’s arrest follows a joint investigation by county deputies and Vermont State Police, Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer said.

According to the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded at about 5:50 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, to a residence at 44 Mace Hill while attempting to locate a wanted subject. Sheriff Palmer and Deputy Watrous were on scene when investigators developed probable cause to arrest Calvin Bernard Alexander Jr., 43, of Montpelier, for providing false information to law enforcement. Deputies also arrested Mikel Cooper, 66, of Hartland, for false information to law enforcement and impeding an officer.

Further investigation revealed Alexander was the subject of an active felony warrant for aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, and criminal threatening, authorities said.

Alexander was arrested for assault last year in a case with drug trafficking overtones, according to a June, 2025 news report in the Rutland Herald/Times Argus: according to police, the male victim reported that the man who assaulted him — later identified as Alexander — and another man had been living in the home with him and the female victim for about two weeks. The female victim told investigators that she and the male victim were not allowed to use their bedroom because Alexander and the other man had taken over the home, forcing them to sleep on a couch in their children’s room. She said they felt like prisoners in their own home.

Police said the woman reported she did not know Alexander or the other man prior to them moving in, but agreed to let them stay after family members in the southern United States vouched for the pair and said they needed a place to stay. She told investigators she suspected the men were selling drugs, though she said she never saw anything in the home to confirm that belief, according to court records. The male victim told police he had seen syringes inside a backpack in the bedroom where the two men had been staying.

In this week’s Hartland bust, deputies secured the residence and applied for a search warrant. After the warrant was granted, members of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department and the Vermont State Police Narcotics Investigation Unit executed the search.

Investigators reported finding approximately four ounces of crack cocaine inside the residence, along with about one gram of crack cocaine on Alexander’s person. As a result, Alexander was charged with selling or dispensing cocaine and possession of cocaine, in addition to arrest on warrant and false information to law enforcement.

Alexander was held without bail and lodged at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m.

Cooper was processed at the Hartford Police Department, issued a citation to appear in court at a later date, and released.

Sheriff Palmer credited assistance from the Vermont State Police, Woodstock Police Department, Barre City Police Department, and Hartford Police Department in the investigation and arrest.