By Mike Donoghue
BARRE — A homeless Barre man is due in court today to face criminal charges of assault and robbery and possession of crack cocaine after he reportedly beat and stole the wallet of an elderly man, Barre City Police said.
Police said they jailed Carlos Manuel Perez, 33, for lack of $3,500 bail at the state prison in St. Johnsbury following the arrest on Saturday.
A man with the same name as the robber, had racked up by May 2015 more than 30 charges of violating conditions of release imposed by state judges, according to the Caledonian Record newspaper.
A Barre shopper about 1 p.m. Saturday had exited a business on North Main Street and was followed to his car by the suspect, police said. The homeless man said he wanted money for kerosene, but the shopper declined, Police Chief Braedon S. Vail said.
Perez reportedly confronted the man behind 88 North Main Street and threw him to the ground, police said.
Investigating Barre Officer Michael Reale was told the robber ran off with the wallet of the victim, who sustained a minor head injury and general soreness.
The name of the victim was not released by police.
Video surveillance of the incident determined the robber was Perez, police said.
About 3 hours after the robbery, a Montpelier Police officer spotted Perez outside a business in Berlin, Chief Vail said. Perez was arrested without incident and was found to reportedly have a partial gram of crack cocaine, the chief said.
Berlin Police said last month that Perez had fled from officers when they were looking for him to serve trespass notices for some local businesses due to aggressive panhandling.
He was spotted walking on North Main Street in Barre on Nov. 12, but before an officer could make contact Perez took off, police said. Officers were unable to locate Perez that night. Officers knew Perez had a curfew that he was in violation of when they attempted to make contact with him, police said.
Police were able to locate Perez three days later again walking on North Main Street in Barre City. An officer made contact with Perez and advised him they had multiple trespass notices for him. Officers also advised Perez he was in violation of his court-ordered curfew from the other night, police said.
Officers took Perez into custody and transported him to the Berlin Police Department for processing. He was later released with a citation ordering him into criminal court.
