By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — A Bellows Falls man, who was arrested for a warrant after attempting to flee police, is facing additional charges after allegedly going on a tirade in the processing room where he damaged municipal property.
Colby Long, 26, was arrested on Monday night and charged with the following: Arrest on Warrant (Instate), Resisting Arrest, Grand Larceny, Operating Without Owners Consent, Unlawful Trespass of a Motor Vehicle, Unlawful Mischief.
The grand larceny charge is a felony and carries a penalty of not more than 10 years in prison and/or a fine of not more than $5,000. The rest of the charges are misdemeanors, but all carry potential prison sentences if convicted.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m., Officer Nicholas Lawrence and Sgt. Ian Tuttle were on duty and walked into the Penguin Market gas station on Rockingham Street.
The officers knew that he had an arrest warrant out of Chittenden County, Vermont, which they confirmed and subsequently attempted to arrest him for.
“They just saw him in the store and tried to make contact with him, and that is when he took off,” Chief David Bemis said.
Lawrence stated in the affidavit that he approached Long and asked if he would speak to him. Long then exited the store through the front door and ran toward Williams Street. They chased after him and Sgt. Tuttle yelled to him to stop and that he was under arrest. Long was apprehended on Williams Street and taken into the Bellows Falls Police Department for processing.
The Bellows Falls Police Department was notified of a vehicle stolen from a local apartment building on Rockingham/Canal Street shortly after Long was arrested. Chief Bemis said the vehicle was stolen from a maintenance worker at Bellows Falls Garage housing about an hour before the arrest was made.
It was then discovered that Long possessed the keys to the stolen vehicle in his pocket at the time of the arrest for the warrant.
Officers were able to obtain surveillance footage that showed the person stealing the vehicle, and it matched the description of Long. The vehicle was subsequently found and returned to the owner.
“The person who had it stolen, he or his boss looked at video and they could see someone with bright blue sneakers,” Bemis said. “We looked at Mr. Long and he had the bright blue sneakers and a dark hoody. He also had keys on him that were for a Dodge, and that was what was stolen, a Dodge Caravan.”
The affidavit noted that still images of the surveillance footage were provided that showed a male matching his description entering the vehicle and driving away. Lawrence went to the Bellows Falls Garage and spoke with the owner of the vehicle, who identified the keys that Long was carrying. He also identified the vehicle and said nothing appeared to be taken.
In a sworn statement by the vehicle owner, he stated that he went to get tools from his vehicle while working in a unit of Bellows Falls Garage and found his vehicle to be missing. He said the keys were in the center console.
The vehicle owner’s boss said that the camera footage shows the man “rifling” through multiple vehicles before stealing the van.
The owner of the van said the vehicle has a value of about $8,000 and the contents of the vehicle, including tools and other supplies, were about $5,000.
Long then allegedly became angry with the police in the processing room, adding to his charges as he caused damage to municipal property. Chief Bemis said that Long was restrained with one hand cuffed to a pole in the process room, but he was able to get ahold of a fan and a station used to take his fingerprints, and began smashing them. He also smashed the chair that he was sitting in, causing damage to the property by breaking the foot. The chair is valued at about $150.
“During processing Long became irate with officers and began to tip, kick, and smash items inside of the processing room,” the Bellows Falls Police Department stated in a release about the arrested. “In the midst of doing so, Long damaged a recently replaced chair which belonged to the Village of Bellows Falls.”
Bemis said there were no officers injured in the incident.
Long was taken to the Southern State Correctional Facility where he was lodged in lieu of the $100 bail from the original warrant he was arrested for. He was then ordered held in lieu of $15,000 by the court due to the new charges regarding the stolen vehicle and damaged property.
Long was arraigned on Feb. 25 in the Vermont Superior Court-Windham Criminal Division.
The Bellows Falls Police Department was assisted by the Walpole, N.H. Police Department and Golden Cross Ambulance.
Long has had run-ins with the law in and outside of Bellows Falls in recent months. Most recently, Long was arrested by Bellows Falls on Feb. 3 for an active arrest warrant out of Burlington, Vermont, and appeared in Vermont Superior Court-Chittenden Division on Feb. 4.
On Oct. 17, 2024, he was arrested on Route 9 in Keene for an aggravated DUI with a passenger under 16. In that arrest he was also charged with three counts of reckless conduct, two counts of disobeying an officer, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, open container, speeding 26 mph or more over the limit of 55 or less, misuse of plates, DUI aggravated attempt to elude police, operating without a valid license, and driving with a suspended license.
Court records regarding the arrest warrant for the Feb. 24 arrest were requested but not received by deadline.
