By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — A former member of the Bellows Falls town and school board was arrested on multiple charges when a woman reported to police that she had been stalked by him since last year.
Colin James, 39, of Bellows Falls, Vermont, was arrested by Bellows Falls Police officers on March 22 for charges of stalking, providing false information to law enforcement and violating conditions of release. Chief David Bemis confirmed that James is a former Bellows Falls Union High School Board member. The BFUHS graduate is also a former Bellows Falls Village Trustee.
According to Bemis, while James was being processed, he became agitated and broke things in the processing room. This led to additional charges of unlawful mischief and disorderly conduct by phone, after Bemis said he repeatedly called the police station in an agitated manner after being issued a citation.
“He was in an agitated mood and began breaking furniture and stuff in the processing room,” Bemis said. “So, we didn’t get his picture or fingerprints.”
According to a report by the Bellows Falls Police Department, on March 22 at 10:43 p.m., James was arrested. While investigating a separate matter, a victim allegedly came forward with allegations against him, saying she had been stalked by James since mid-2024.
“Officers conducted an investigation into these allegations, and determined James had stalked the victim,” the report stated. “During the investigation officers discovered James had lied about several aspects of the events which unfolded.”
Chief Bemis explained that an officer went into a local business for an unrelated matter and was not initially investigating James, but the store clerk and a victim informed the officer about him and his alleged actions.
“The clerk in there mentioned and talked to him about what happened, and the officer went and spoke with a victim who had left and got a statement,” Bemis said. “The officers then went to Mr. James’s and that was when he was arrested.”
He added, “We weren’t investigating him initially until the clerk told us what happened, that these facts happened, and then the officer decided to investigate after receiving information. Nobody called us up and said, ‘this happened.’”
When James was arrested, he was in possession of alcohol which violated his conditions of release, adding another charge. Bemis was unsure of why he was under release conditions.
James was issued a citation and then allegedly called the Bellows Falls Police Department making complaints, asking for different officers to speak with, and Bemis said the “focus of these, we don’t really know.”
James was taken to the Bellows Falls Police Department to be processed, and this is where he allegedly broke a chair and was given an unlawful mischief charge, as well as the charge of disorderly conduct by phone. James was then brought to the Southern State Correctional Facility and held on $1,000 cash surety or bail.
James appeared in Vermont Superior Court, Windham Division on March 24 for his arraignment.
The criminal history for James includes a DUI arrest in October 2013, and on May 25, 2019, he was arrested for forgery at Donovan’s bar in Bellows Falls, which he was an employee of at the time.
A probable cause affidavit has been requested from the Vermont Superior Court-Windham Criminal Division.
