By Guy Page
A Burlington man was in police custody just four days before the July 7 murder in which he is a “person of interest.”
Abdiaziz O. Abdhikadir, 19, of Burlington, was arrested July 3 for possessing stolen property and contributing to juvenile delinquency, according to the South Burlington police log. He and two others were stopped by South Burlington police. Abdhikadir – who court records say has a lengthy arrest record and is a gang member who also answers to “Drill” – was allegedly in possession of a stolen Glock pistol.
The teenager who (according to court documents cited in media reports) has been arrested 23 times since 2013 was cited and released on Sunday, July 3 on the condition he appear in court Tuesday, July 5. Court was closed Monday for the July 4 holiday.
He did not appear. Two days later, Hussein Mubarak, 22, of Burlington was shot dead near his boyhood home off Intervale Avenue in Burlington. Police say witnesses saw a young black man fleeing.
On July 15, he was identified as a “person of interest” after his arrest in South Burlington. “On Friday, July 15, at about 3 p.m., South Burlington police and officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took Abdhikadir into custody at gunpoint during a dramatic car stop of a Mercedes at Hinesburg Road and Kennedy Drive,” independent crime reporter Mike Donoghue wrote July 21 for the Vermont Community Newspaper Group.
A court affidavit said Abdhikadir was involved in an attempted homicide in Colchester last year. “The review shows a clear pattern of escalation, starting with minor larcenies and assaults to more recently, robberies, larcenies from persons, and involvement in an attempted homicide” in Colchester last summer, the court affidavit said, Donoghue reports.
Abdhikadir also fled from juvenile custody twice in the summer of 2020, highlighting the State of Vermont’s lack of a secure juvenile detention facility following the closure of Woodside facility in Essex Junction.
It is unclear why Abdhikadir, with his lengthy arrest record and history of flight, was not held without bail following his July 3 arrest for possession of a stolen firearm.
Vermont law enforcement officials, especially State’s Attorney Sarah George, have been trying to reduce the number of arrestees held for detention. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful, at least according to a “snapshot” of July 21 of the last three years.
During the last three years, the number of detainees has climbed, while the total incarcerated population has fallen.
On July 21, 2020, Vermont had 1407 people incarcerated with 303 as detainees. On July 22, 2021 (no count given for July 21 that year), the number of total people incarcerated dropped by more than 100 to 1302 – but detainees rose to 338. In 2022, the detainee ratio climbed, with 390 detainees (30%) among the 1318.