By Guy Page

Derby and Pownal are about as far apart – 212 miles by driving – as two Vermont towns can be. But yesterday they were united in their connection with the ongoing scourge of rural, drug-trafficking related violence allegedly committed by young men from out-of-state. 

S.58, a bill passed by the Legislature and signed into this week by Gov. Scott, toughens sentencing for perpetrators of the crimes like those reported below. The new law is too late for either victims or perpetrators of the violence reported below.

State police announced yesterday, Wednesday May 29, that Elizah Coppedge, 18, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, has been taken into custody in South Carolina as a fugitive from justice in Vermont in connection with a Feb. 6 stabbing death in Pownal. 

Also yesterday, state police announced they had taken into custody Wellington Arias, 22, of Boston MA, after he allegedly shot at a man in the Derby Wal-Mart parking lot, and stole his car. Had he driven north he would have been at the Canadian border in several minutes. Instead he fled south at 97 MPH before being stopped by police. 

The two events were not directly related, but they were both members of the extended, highly dysfunctional family of events in which young men from out-of-state, allegedly involved with the drug trade, visit violence on Vermonters and sometimes have it visited on themselves.

No-one was injured in the Derby parking lot gunfire yesterday. The same cannot be said of the day Casey Gras, 26, of Bennington, a career criminal, died outside his mobile home on the drug-ravaged mobile home park on Chickadee Drive in Pownal, on the Massachusetts state line southeastern Bennington County. 

Police say Coppedge – 6’ 2”, and heavily built, according to Massachusetts media reports – stabbed Gras, 36, of Bennington multiple times in a ‘drug-related dispute.’ Gras two years ago avoided a life sentence as a habitual offender with a plea deal. Among his crimes, he reportedly had pistol-whipped someone during a robbery. 

Jail records show that Coppedge is being held as a fugitive from justice at the Greenwood County Detention Center in Greenwood, South Carolina. The Greenwood City Police Department arrested Coppedge on May 19. He is expected to remain in custody in South Carolina pending extradition to Vermont to face the murder charge.

Reporter Michael Albans of the Bennington Banner went to the crime scene in February and reported:

“The stabbing, according to a close neighbor, happened inside a single-wide, blue trailer at 374 Chickadee Drive. A vehicle believed to be a blue or gray, “newer” Subaru Crosstrek or Toyota hatchback with a single occupant sat outside as Gras could be heard screaming, “Help me, help me.” Soon after, Gras – covered in blood – ran across the small front yard and banged on the glass of the occupied vehicle for help to be let inside. The driver ignored the pleas.”

Moments later, “Gras – mortally wounded – then ran across the dirt roadway for about 30 feet, and collapsed next to a tall fence just as the neighborhood schoolchildren were let off the school bus. Parents, meeting them before police arrived, tried to shield their eyes. A short time later, emergency medical services arrived and worked on Gras where he collapsed. He was declared dead at the scene about 15 minutes later.”

Albans also reported that many neighbors were afraid to speak in fear of retaliation. 

“It’s scary because this isn’t the first incident, a nearby neighbor said. ‘We’ve had people from New York City and Massachusetts living in there with the woman for months, gang members, all these people. So many drugs. It’s not any secret. We’ve run them off our property pretty regularly, stealing and stuff, especially the last three days before this happened. It’s a lot of guns, drugs – traffic in and out for years, now all hours. We pretty much have to stay inside most of the time. You never know what’s going to happen.’”

Also unexpected was the 4:25 PM gunfire at the Derby Wal-Mart parking lot full of cars and shoppers near the end of the work day. 

Police say there was a confrontation between Arias and Jason Willey in the Walmart parking lot.  During this incident, the accused fired a round from a handgun in closed proximity to Willey, which ricocheted off the pavement, and stole a gray Chevrolet Equinox from Willey’s possession.  At the time, the Walmart was open for business and the parking lot was occupied.  Arias fled the scene immediately prior to the arrival of responding troopers, and is believed to have changed vehicles prior to traveling southbound on I-91, then briefly northbound again before being stopped.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing and troopers are still seeking the whereabouts of the Chevrolet Equinox. Arias was driving a different vehicle when he was stopped an hour-and-a-half later. 

After responding to the Derby Wal-Mart, troopers developed a person of interest, began following leads and issued a “Be on the lookout” for the vehicle and suspect.  At 5:50 PM, a trooper was monitoring traffic and stopped a Nissan Altima for traveling 97 MPH in a 65 MPH zone on I-91 Northbound in Lyndonville.  

The operator of the vehicle was identified as Arias, and identified by Derby Troopers as the shooter.  Arias was placed under arrest, transferred to the custody of Derby troopers and processed at the Derby Barracks.  

He was ordered held without bail by the on-call judge and lodged at the Northern State Correctional Facility.  He is due in the Orleans Superior Court, Criminal Division, on 5/30/24 at 1230 hours.

Willey was uninjured – this time. On January 1, 2022, he was shot by a Connecticut-based drug criminal. So was his mom, Valerie Lyon. Willey suffered critical injuries. Police say the shooting was drug-related. 

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