by Mike Donoghue

WILLISTON — A longtime Vermont State Police trooper currently on paid leave following a complaint about items missing from a property room at the state police barracks in Williston denied any involvement when confronted by detectives, court papers show.

Trooper Giancarlo DiGenova of Essex is under criminal investigation for suspicion of grand larceny, sale of stolen property, official misconduct, neglect of duty and false information to police, court records show.

DiGenova was wearing his Vermont State Police uniform when he walked into Perrywinkle’s, a jewelry store at 227 Main Street in Burlington to get a Rolex watch appraised on Nov. 29, according to a search warrant affidavit.

A men’s gold Rolex watch was among the items reported missing from the temporary storage room at the state police barracks on Vermont 2A, Detective Sgt. Jesse Robson said in his court affidavit. Read more in the Caledonian-Record…..

Editor’s note: Mike Donoghue was already an experienced, highly capable cops & court reporter for the Burlington Free Press when I began my journalism career there in 1979. My desk was next to his and I learned much from the Master. Incredibly, 43 later he is still breaking major news stories like this one. He also has served as president of the Vermont Press Association and as a professor of journalism at St. Michaels College.