By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — A fugitive of New Hampshire for failing to appear in court stemming from drug charges was arrested in Springfield, Vermont, last month when he attempted to flee a vehicle pulled over for a traffic violation.
Anthony Hutchinson, 36, of West Lebanon, was arrested on Feb. 20 and charged with being a fugitive from justice. He was issued a citation to appear in Windsor County Criminal Court on Feb. 21 and held at Southern State Correctional Facility in lieu of $5,000 cash or surety bail.
According to a report by Springfield Police, an officer was on patrol in a fully marked police cruiser at the intersection of Park Street and Main Street. Court documents show that the officer saw a silver Honda Accord turn left onto Main Street without using a turn signal.
“During the traffic stop, while Officer Callahan was approaching the vehicle, the passenger exited the vehicle and attempted to walk away from the scene,” the report stated. “The male was identified as the defendant, Anthony Hutchinson. After an investigation, Hutchinson was found to have an extraditable warrant out of New Hampshire. Hutchinson was taken into custody without incident.”
The arrest warrant issued for Hutchinson was for a non-appearance in court for a dispositional hearing on Nov. 21, 2024. Court documents show that the underlying charge was a Class A Felony Charge of possession of a controlled drug, schedule 1 through 4. The grand jury indictment dated Jan. 16, 2024, says that on Oct. 25, 2023, Hutchinson knowingly possessed or had under his control, a quantity of methamphetamine. He had previously been convicted of a prior drug offense, as well.
Hutchinson has a criminal history going back at least eight years, as he was arrested in by Lebanon (NH) Police in February 2017 for Class B Felony charges of cultivating marijuana and manufacturing of marijuana, and a Class A misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana.
In July 2017 he was arrested for Class A Felony Theft after he and another man allegedly stole $1,949.81 worth of items from Price Chopper in Lebanon. A report by Lebanon police stated that he fled when a loss prevention officer tried to stop him in the parking lot, but he was later found and arrested.
Hutchinson was arrested in Lebanon on August 2017 for alleged possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, a Class B Felony; possession of cocaine, a Class B Felony; possession of a controlled drug, Gabapentin, a Class B Felony; and Controlled Drug Acts Prohibited, a Class B Misdemeanor.
Most recently he was apprehended by Springfield Police for an active in-state governor’s warrant on Oct. 12, 2024. A governor’s warrant is issued when another state is looking for someone to be extradited.
