Keep Vermont Safe

Man steals giant rock

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by KeepVermontSafe.com

Man steals giant rock

Mitchell Beland
VSP photo

A Hartland man has turned himself in after stealing a large landscaping rock from a neighbors property.

Mitchell Beland, 66, allegedly used an excavator to take the rock off of her property on October 10 at around 9:00am

The rock is estimated to be worth around $1,000 to $1,600 according to multiple landscaping companies.

Beland turned himself in on November 27 and was processed for the alleged crime.

He was charged with Grand Larceny and released. He is scheduled in court January, 2025.


Man threatens to kill man and family, victim fights back, suspect arrested

Jason Russell, 52, of Waterbury illegally entered the residence of Gregory Haskins, 51, of Waterbury with a firearm and threatened to kill every resident inside.

Vermont State Police received a call about the incident, with Haskins being held at gunpoint.

At some point, Haskins was able to disarm and subdue Russell, taking him to the ground and pinning him down.

The police arrived and placed Russell under arrest.

He is being held without bail at Northwest State Correctional Facility.

Nobody was injured in this incident.


Man crashes car in Dummerston, arrested on DUI and assault

James Clark
VSP photo

James Clark, 44, of Chichester NH crashed his vehicle into a guardrail on I-91 in Dummerston.

When police located the vehicle, they located Clark as well who showed signs of impairment, purportedly high on drugs.

When officers tried to reason with him, he became “assaultive and disorderly” and impeded officers’ attempts to arrest him.

Clark continued to be assaultive even after being transported to Vermont State Police barracks. He was later charged for assault on law enforcement.

Police also found brass knuckles on his person.

He was processed and cited to appear in court in February, 2025.

Nobody was injured in this incident.


Sentence handed down in BPD drug raid

A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to 58 months in prison after he was busted in a raid on September 21, 2023.

The raid was conducted on 86 North Champlain Street in Burlington. Police found Roosevelet Smith, 27, in possession of nearly 300 grams of cocaine base and approximately 70 grams of fentanyl.

Roosevelt pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and fentanyl.

Law enforcement later examined the contents of Smith’s phone, pursuant to a warrant and found extensive evidence of communication regarding drug trafficking.

United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the exceptional investigative work of the Burlington Police Department and the Vermont State Police.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Aliberti.


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5 replies »

  1. Google AI tells us:

    Sisyphus tricked the god of death, Thanatos, by chaining him up, preventing anyone from dying. He later tricked Persephone, the queen of the underworld, into letting him return to the living world.

    His punishment:
    As a result of his deceit, Zeus sentenced Sisyphus to eternally push a boulder up a hill in the underworld, only for it to roll back down each time he neared the top.

    Symbolic meaning:
    The myth of Sisyphus is often interpreted as a metaphor for the absurdity of human existence, where one might strive towards a goal only to see it slip away repeatedly.

    https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/ill-starred_19562

    “In profoundly empty solitude to sit.”

    ILL-STARRED

    By Charles Baudelaire

    To bear a weight that cannot be borne,
    Sisyphus, even you aren’t that strong,
    Although your heart cannot be torn
    Time is short and Art is long.

    Far from celebrated sepulchers
    Toward a solitary graveyard
    My heart, like a drum muffled hard
    Beats a funeral march for the ill-starred.

    Many jewels are buried or shrouded
    In darkness and oblivion’s clouds,
    Far from any pick or drill bit,

    Many a flower unburdens with regret
    Its perfume sweet like a secret;
    In profoundly empty solitude to sit.

  2. A rock (not a diamond) is valued at more than $1000 and a man is facing charges of grand larceny for moving it, yet most every day in Vermont someone has their automobile stolen. Most cars that anyone bothers to steal are typically worth anywhere from $10,000 up to $100,000 and the perpetrator is typically only charged with “operating without owner’s consent”. In terms of victim impact, most people I know can get along better without a landscaping rock than their car. Anyone see a problem with our legal system here?