Man denies stealing motorcycle, police pursuit
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A
Weathersfield man who allegedly stole a motorcycle in Ludlow earlier
this month and then, in a separate incident, allegedly led police on a
high-speed chase through Springfield on a dirt bike Friday morning was
in court Monday facing multiple felony charges.
Joey Bergeron,
32, pleaded innocent to aggravated operation of a vehicle without the
owner’s consent, attempting to elude police and gross negligent
operation before he was ordered held for lack of $15,000 bail.
Bergeron,
who over the years has been convicted of nearly two dozen crimes
including burglary, possession of stolen property and escape, has been
charged as a habitual offender and could face “enhanced penalties” of up
to life in prison if convicted of any of new charges.
“Mr.
Bergeron has a history of violations of probation and parole on his
rather extensive criminal record and the state notes that he currently
has pending criminal cases in the states of Massachusetts and
Connecticut,” Windsor County Deputy State’s Attorney David Cahill told
Judge Katherine Hayes on Monday.
A swarm of police throughout the
region spent much of Friday morning on the lookout for Bergeron after a
pursuit of a dirt bike that began on Route 106 in Weathersfield wound
through numerous downtown streets in Springfield.
Vermont State
Police Trooper Nick Arlington said he was just finishing up an unrelated
traffic stop when he recognized Bergeron as he zipped past him on a
dirt bike “with an extremely loud muffler.”
Arlington wrote in
his affidavit that he was already aware that Ludlow authorities wanted
to question Bergeron about his alleged role in the theft of a
three-wheeler Can-Am motorcycle taken from the driveway of one of
Bergeron’s former employers earlier this month.
Arlington said
even though he activated his blue lights and siren, Bergeron took off,
going 60 mph in a 40 mph zone, passing lines of cars that had stopped
for red lights, and going between two lanes worth of stopped vehicles on
Park Street.
Despite the effort of several troopers and police
from Springfield and Chester, Arlington said that Bergeron managed to
lose his pursuers and witnesses later told police they saw the dirt bike
speed out of town down Brockways Mill Road and later head west out
Route 121 in Saxtons River.
Within hours, police received a tip
that Bergeron had been given a ride by a resident of Saxtons River back
to Springfield where troopers located him and arrested him without
further incident.
Arlington said that when Bergeron was found his
jeans were soaking wet below the knees and he was not wearing shoes or
socks. He said the resident who gave Bergeron a ride out of Saxtons
River reported that Bergeron had claimed to have been fishing and become
stranded when his car broke down.
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