By VDC staff

A St. Johnsbury man wanted for failure to appear in court and to comply with sex offender registry requirements was arrested Wednesday morning after allegedly fleeing from police, prompting a multi-agency search through town.

This wasn’t the first such incident for Anthony Speed, 42. A 2018 report in the Caledonian-Record said that Speed fled police that March, when he already had three convictions for failure to comply with registry requirements.

The St. Johnsbury Police Department said officers encountered Speed, 42, at about 9:30 AM on July 29 while responding to a call near Railroad Street and River Road. When officers attempted to take him into custody, Speed allegedly ran from Railroad Street to St. Mary Street.

Police launched a search with assistance from the Vermont State Police, Lyndonville Police Department, the Caledonia County Sheriff’s Office, and the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. A Vermont State Police trooper located and arrested Speed on River Road before transferring him to the custody of the St. Johnsbury Police Department.

According to police, Speed was wanted on a warrant for failure to appear for sentencing and was also the subject of another warrant request for allegedly failing to comply with Vermont’s Sex Offender Registry requirements. In addition to those matters, he was charged with resisting arrest in connection with Wednesday’s incident.

Speed was ordered held at the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility on $1,000 bail and a previously imposed sentence requiring 30 days to serve. He is scheduled to appear in Caledonia County Superior Court, Criminal Division, at 12:30 PM on Thursday, July 30, to answer the new resisting arrest charge.

Speed was convicted of sexual assault in New Hampshire in 2008.