Alleged cop-hitter, burglar can’t be found after release on citation

A Waitsfield woman is dead following an early morning crash Thursday, April 11 on Rte. 100 in Moretown.

At 6:46 AM, state troopers from the Berlin Barracks and Fatal Crash Reconstruction Team and Department of Motor Vehicles staff responded to a two vehicle crash on Route 100 in Moretown. 

A 2019 Freightliner and a 2015 Subaru CrossTrek were found at an uncontrolled position off the north side of Route 100.  The operator of the Subaru, Rosetta Weber, 39, of Waitsfield was pronounced dead at the scene and the sole occupant of the vehicle.  The operator of the tractor trailer unit, Satnam Singh, 24, of Brampton Ontario, was transported to Central Vermont Medical Center.  

Following hospital discharge, Singh was held for lack of $150,000 bail on charges of gross negligent operation with death resulting.

Police say Singh was traveling west on Route 100 when, for reasons still under investigation, he left his lane of travel and struck Weber’s vehicle head on. 

Released on citation, suspect burglar/cop assailant now missing – The Vermont State Police has requested an arrest warrant for Thomas LaPine, 36, of St Albans in connection with several criminal incidents – burglary, assaulting a police officer, and an RV set afire – that took place on the morning of January 24, 2024, in the area of Nason Street and Vivian Lane in St Albans.

State police say the St Albans Fire Department responded to a fire involving a recreational vehicle belonging to John Stanley and parked at a single family residence.  While this fire event was being addressed, a home was burglarized on Vivian Lane just a short distance away. The homeowner and a neighbor, Kyle Baitz, alerted St Albans Police Officer Dengler, who was assisting with the fire scene on Nason Street, to the burglary and pointed out LaPine, who was walking through a field located between the two crime scenes.  

LaPine was confronted by an officer who attempted to detain him. LaPine resisted arrest and in the process assaulted and injured the officer. Baitz was also assaulted by LaPine while he was trying to assist Officer Dengler. 

LaPine was taken into custody and transported to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department where he was processed, cited, and released on a citation to appear to answer to the charge of Burglary. 

Anyone with information about LaPine’s whereabouts is asked to contact law enforcement. 

People with information may also contact the Vermont Arson Tip Award Program at 800-32-ARSON. The Arson Tip Award Program is a separate entity from the Department of Public Safety, and through funding from insurance companies offers a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest in this case.