by Guy Page
Michael Reynolds, a Burlington-area transient, has now racked up 1,850 police encounters, Burlington police say. Chief Jon Murad says it’s time to impose the ‘habitual offender’ status on the man who on December 27 refused to leave the UVM Medical Center and assaulted guards and patients when asked to do so.
“He has harmed huge numbers of people; he routinely endangers himself and others; and Burlington’s officers deal with him more than any other person. He has exhausted outlets of charity, treatment, or relief, and burned bridges with entities that seek to help the disadvantaged,” Murad said in a police statement.
A lightly edited version of the police statement appears below.
On December 27, at about 5:56 pm, officers with the BPD were dispatched to the University of Vermont Medical Center for a report that Reynolds was refusing to leave the hospital premises and trying to assault hospital security guards and other patients at the hospital grounds. Callers reported and dispatch confirmed that Reynolds has an active notice of trespass from the hospital.
When officers arrived on scene, Reynolds was taken into custody for unlawful trespass. While officers searched Reynolds, dispatch advised that an additional report was just received regarding a burglary on Colchester Avenue. Further investigation revealed, just prior to this incident, Reynolds burglarized a residence on Colchester Avenue. The victim came out of his shower to find Reynolds hiding in a closet. When confronted he left. In addition to unlawful trespass, Reynolds was taken into custody for burglary. He was lodged at Northwest State Correctional Facility for lack of $1,000 bail.
Today, December 30, Reynolds appeared for court and was released on conditions. He has nearly 40 violations of court orders or conditions on file, and 10 failures to appear.
“Mr. Reynolds has half a dozen felony convictions and more than three dozen misdemeanor convictions,” said Chief of Police Jon Murad. “He has more police encounters than anyone else in our records management system—more than 1,850 entries. More than 170 trespass notices have been filed against him by business proprietors, property owners, and social service providers. He has harmed huge numbers of people; he routinely endangers himself and others; and Burlington’s officers deal with him more than any other person. He has exhausted outlets of charity, treatment, or relief, and burned bridges with entities that seek to help the disadvantaged. We have an answer for this kind of violent, incorrigible, antisocial behavior: Vermont’s ‘habitual criminal’ statute. Our legislators enacted it for a reason. If Mr. Reynolds is convicted of this most recent felony, 13 V.S.A. 11 should be strongly considered.”
NARRATIVE:
On December 9, 2024, at approximately 7:29 am, officers with the Burlington Police Department responded to South Union Street for a trespass. Officers trespassed Michael Reynolds, 47, of Burlington for one year from the property.
At approximately 3:50 pm, officers with the BPD responded to South Union Street for a disturbance. Officers issued Reynolds a citation for disorderly conduct and unlawful trespass. Reynolds was trespassed from the same property earlier in the day.
On December 10, 2024, at approximately 9:50 pm, officers with the BPD responded to the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) on Colchester Avenue for reports that Reynolds was refusing to leave after being told he was trespassed. Officers arrived and informed Reynolds he was trespassed and needed to leave. Reynolds left and then later returned to UVMMC. Reynolds was taken into custody and cited for unlawful trespass.
On December 11, 2024, at approximately 11:45 pm, officers with the BPD were dispatched to UVMMC for a report that Reynolds was refusing to leave. When officers arrived on scene, Reynolds was yelling and refusing to leave after he was trespassed from the security. Reynolds was taken into custody and transported to the BPD. Reynolds was then released on a citation without fingerprints and photograph due to his escalated behaviors.
On December 12, 2024, at approximately 7:24 am, officers with the BPD responded to UVMMC for a report of a disturbance. When officers arrived, Reynolds was outside of UVMMC. Officers provided Reynolds a courtesy ride to North Winooski Avenue.
At approximately 1:12 pm, officers with the BPD responded to a disturbance on Pearl Street. Officers issued Reynolds a citation for disorderly conduct and unlawful trespass. Reynolds has been previously trespassed from this property.
On December 13, 2024, at approximately 5:52 pm, officers with the BPD responded to Pearl Street for a report that Reynolds was actively trespassing. Upon arrival, officers took Reynolds into custody for unlawful trespass and transported him to the BPD. Reynolds was cited to appear in court on February 4, 2025 and released.
On December 16, 2024, at approximately 6:33 am, officers with the BPD responded to South Union Street for a report of Reynolds violating a previously issued trespass. Upon arrival, officers responded and issued a citation to appear in court on December 19, 2024.
On December 17, 2024, at approximately 8:08 pm, an officer with BPD was conducting a directed patrol of the Marketplace Garage, when the officer observed Reynolds inside the stairwell. Reynolds has active court conditions to not be in the parking garage. Reynolds was issued a citation on scene and was escorted from the property.
Later that night, on December 18, 2024, at approximately 12:29 am, officers with the BPD responded to the University of Vermont Medical Center. Investigation revealed Reynolds was discharged and did not leave when asked to – Reynolds has an active notice of trespass from the location. When officers arrived, they asked Reynolds to leave. Reynolds did not comply and was taken into custody for unlawful trespass.
On December 20, 2024, at approximately at 1:06 am, officers with the BPD responded for a report of Reynolds violating a previously issued trespass. When officers arrived, Reynolds was observed standing inside of the business. Reynolds was taken into custody and lodged.
On December 23, 2024, the BPD received reports regarding Reynolds trespassing on South Winooski Avenue. Due to staffing shortage, officers responded to the scene a short time later. Officers located Reynolds and cited him for unlawful trespass.
Later the same day, at approximately 11:40 am, officers responded to the area of North Winooski Avenue and Pearl Street regarding a mental health issue involving Reynolds. Upon arrival, officers observed Reynolds chasing an individual. Investigation revealed Reynolds had engaged in violent and tumultuous behavior in a public place, when he repeatedly punched a nearby mailbox. Reynolds was also lunging into a heavily trafficked intersection and approaching a pedestrian in an aggressive manner. Reynolds was taken into custody.
Reynolds has the following criminal history: 162 misdemeanor charges with 42 convictions, 19 felony charges with 6 convictions, 39 violations of court orders or conditions charges with 3 convictions, and 10 failures to appear.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Burlington Police Department at (802) 658-2704.
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Categories: Public Safety
Chittenden County Voters are getting what they voted for. A dystopia.
ms. sara soros-george is delivering on her promise to ignore the Vermont Constitution and her affirmation of office, endangering the public, escalating costs for dealing with this persons mental health. At what point might he turn violent, killing or maiming? Should soros-george desire, she could have charged him for crimes that would deny bail, but the bottom line of culpability falls on the Chittenden county voter.
I am curious, he was just released on conditions again….if he should (and will) re-offend and seriously injure someone, can the injured party hold the judge that released him responsible and bring a lawsuit against the judge? Perhaps including the City of Burlington as well. Knowing this man’s history, the judge still allowed him back on the streets which meant he/she did not perform the required duty of protecting the public. And wouldn’t the COB be responsible for the safety of the citizens as well. I think lawsuits started by the victims need to be brought. If a lawsuit isn’t possible because of judicial immunity then the judges need to be repeatedly reported via written complaints to the judicial review board. There needs to be some recourse for holding the judges responsible as they continue to refuse to protect the public.
JF, I have also wondered why there have not been any class action suits filed against the prosecutors, and judges, or municipalities, and/or the State of Vermont by citizens of the SOV for not protecting the citizens of the SOV. Is it not legal for citizens to sue these less than, (or are they self serving) public servants ? I have always thought that most if not all of them take an oath to protect the citizenry against people like these. If so, they have broken this oath. Why/where am I wrong in this thinking ? If I am not wrong in this, please allow me to be the first signature on any lawsuit that addresses this breach in public trust .
The catch and release cycle would likly stop if his next victims were the city officials from top down.
President Trump has raised this issue in the past. Bring back the mental hospitals. this is where this man belongs. As Trump has said, it is only common sense. Not only will it make our society safer but the man being incarcerated at a mental hospital will be treated humanely and with as much dignity as possible. Bring back the mental hospitals…
Absolutely. Things have only gotten worse since the Waterbury State Hospital was destroyed. The vast majority of the homeless population suffers from mental illness as well as many arrested for crimes. I don’t understand why anyone imagined replacing Waterbury with the tiny facility in Berlin would suffice; although I don’t know if they are even able to fully staff that place yet.
Under new legislation we should create, repeated violations of conditions will bump up to felonies, and will draw more severe consequences when coupled with violent crimes. If ever we needed a textbook example of life imprisonment for habitual offenders (three felony convictions, yes, but we need to make laws also for number of LE encounters within certain time frames), Reynolds is it.
Mental health treatment, sure, but behind bars.
Yes-behind bars! I have been saying for a long time now that we desperately need a lot of mental health treatment beds in our prisons, but no one under the Golden Dome seems to understand, and/or care.
At some point, this POS had exhausted his right to participate in civilized society. He is an absolute leech, draining dollars and generosity from everyone. He will not change, and the only reason he is even still alive is the Leftist policies that enable criminals and punish victims. I would not be opposed to him somehow falling in front of a train. Today would be fine.
Headline fixed (Prog Reality):
Man with 1,850 police-harassment encounters refuses to leave hospital, assaulted by guards
😂
Or, maybe man with 1,850 police “encounters,” refuses to comply with officers, is transported to the hospital suffering from broken bones, cuts, and contusions .
Are we all insane? Just reading this article makes me feel dumber. What is a
habitual offender… is it 5 times, 20 times, 50, 200, 1500, why stop at 1850?
What has this cost the taxpayers and those injured by this offender? Does
Burlington let him float around until he kills a child or adult (your oved one)?
Burlington voters have been subdued into a state of paralysis and cannot
react with common sense. Let us hope in 2025 a few of those voters wake up.
Burlington is in the grip of Mass Formation. There is a fix for it but will take
strong leaders to undo the damage that has and is being done in this very progressive city called Burlington.
This was my thought too. He should have been locked up a loooooong time ago.
What in the world does it take to keep him in custody? This is NOt the VT i knew. Sorry excuse for Courts
Please move the government workers out of what used to be a hospital for these type of people so they can get the help and medicines they need. (Most government employees work from home anyway, which is a waste of tax dollars to pay for the building for nothing)
The dog and pony show will keep getting worse, because everyone is on the payroll and they do not care. This type of operation in the private sector would call for mass firings of all people involved and that includes the cops, judges, government officials and stupid city leaders.
The questions that need to be asked are:
Who are the state’s attorneys and judges who allow this individual out in public and what was their reasoning for it? For the life of me I cannot think of one good reason, and removing this guy from the streets is long overdue. If mental health officials have been part of this decision making process, they should answer too. All of them are well aware of this situation and all of them bear responsibility for it. Unfortunately it will take someone getting seriously hurt, and it may very well ending up during an encounter with the police. Law enforcement is always left holding the bag, and some poor officers will have to deal with the aftermath. No one seems to care about the safety of the officers, nor do they care about the individual. If the decision makers cared, this guy would be secured in a safe facility. Our judicial / mental health system has failed miserably in this case.
Make a spreadsheet of all police encounters with his arrests, outcome, the charges that were brought, the attorneys involved, and the judges involved, and whether or not he was let go, showing minor or maximum fines and penalties for the offense vs what he was given. With 1850 encounters there likely is a pattern. I would think a public records request could get this sheet for cheap.
Maybe somebody he knows? Maybe Sarah George? At the very least it would be the information needed for a civil suit towards the officials who should be penalized (maybe even jailed) for negligence of duty.
Discharging him after having 1,850 encounters not obeying judge’s orders, not obeying bail orders, having him break into people’s houses and assault people means he’s a danger to society. That means that the local justice system is not doing its job and the citizenry must have recourse or the system must expect vigilante Justice.
Michael Reynolds, a Burlington-area ” transient “, AKA ” bum ” has now racked up 1,850 police encounters I guess he has a few issues, and I assume some kind of mental deficiencies, I’m not sure but just look at his mug shot, he needs to be locked up and sedated……………………….
Let the bleeding hearts Sarah George and Charity Clark offer to take him in to their residences…he would be so over the moon thankful to them for ignoring his 1,850 criminal acts…give him an axe and trust that he will cut wood for you…
The state of Vermont will keep playing and playing with this guy until he kills someone then it will be too late. This is all being do for a warped ideology.
PROGRESSIVEISM = SOCIALISM = COMMUNISIM = DEATH
“There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.” Ann Rand
WHY?
This man is escalating. He either needs to be in a full time treatment facility or in Jail. What’s happening here???
Someone needs to stand up. If so, there’s going to be backlash. Something needs to change in Burlington. The current system is not working.
Guy,
What is the app for discovering a person’s criminal history in Vermont?
https://secure.vermont.gov/DPS/criminalrecords/
I think that’s it for VT, however they also cost $30 per request (ridiculous for public records that aren’t certified).
I once thought I wanted to be a psychologist- went to UVM and got the undergrad degree. Then after some good-old Burlington outreach work I did, realized it was better when people like this were quietly lobotomized in institution basements.
Please, when writing about this guy, list the name of the moronic judge who released him. Then everyone who made a comment here needs to write that IDIOT and tell him or her to do their job and protect the public.