BRANDON — A scam school shooting scare, dogs on the loose, and property mishaps kept Brandon Police busy in the last week.
After a quiet day on Feb. 6, Police received word of a minor physical altercation between two students at the Otter Valley Union High School. No injuries were reported, and the school staff quickly separated the parties before the fight escalated. The school advised that they would be handling the incident as an in-house disciplinary matter at this time.
An off-duty officer driving on route 125 in Bridport on the morning of Feb. 8 notice that a vehicle was not only driving too fast for the road conditions, but also passing traffic that had slowed down due to black ice. The officer stopped the driver in question and issued a warning. Not long afterward a dog was found loose on Grove Street and turned in to the Police Station. Upon identifying the owner, the dog was returned.
At just before 9:15 a.m. police received a call from an unidentified male with a foreign accent reporting that two children had been shot in an English classroom at the Otter Valley Union High School. In a flurry of response, the on-duty officer requested additional back-up from area law enforcement agencies and then responded to the school. Entry was immediately made to locate any possible.
A short time later, officers from the Vermont State Police, Pittsford Police Department, Rutland Town Police Department as well as Brandon Area Rescue arrived on-scene to assist with clearing the building and in case there were any injuries. The building was in lockdown at the time and the entire school complex was searched and cleared.
It was later determined that the call had been fraudulent, and that the caller was perpetrating a hoax by “Swatting.” The school was subsequently taken out of lock down after determining that there was no threat to the staff or students. Twenty-one schools in Vermont including Otter Valley and Middlebury Union High School received the hoax call.
Early on the morning of Feb. 9, Officers noticed a broken pipe inside Cattails Restaurant during a routine property check. The officer attempted to contact the last known owner on-record to advise him that a broken water pipe had been discovered.
Later in the day it was dogs again, this time a dog was reported lost near Foley Taco and Bean on Park Street. The owner of the dog ultimately found and claimed the dog at the business a short time later. Police ended the day with multiple reports of a fallen tree causing a traffic hazard on Short Swamp Road. Cones were placed around the tree by the responding officer and the Town of Brandon Highway Department was contacted to remove the tree from the roadway.
A domestic disturbance at an apartment in Conant Square in the early hours of Feb. 10. The argument between the two parties was found to be verbal in nature and no physical violence was reported. Officers cleared the scene without any further incident.
Around midday a woman requested a welfare check at her sister’s residence on Deer Run Road because she hadn’t heard from her in over a week and the sister hadn’t show up for work that day. The responding officer made contact with the woman at her residence and determined that she was safe and sound.
A dog incident, this time on Carver Street was reported early in the afternoon. The report of two large dogs wandering loose in the area has been an ongoing complaint. Though the responding officer checked the area and the yards of nearby homes, the dogs were not located.
At almost 5 p.m. that same day, police were called in to assist Brandon Area Rescue at a residence on Jones Drive with a suicidal female. The woman at the residence was found safe and voluntarily went to the hospital for treatment with EMS.
On Feb. 12 police were alerted to a crash involving a parked vehicle behind Café Provence. A note was left by the operator, however, communication between the involved parties had apparently ceased. Police want the at-fault person to know that the incident will be investigated as a Leaving the Scene of an Accident if the operator does not provide information to the owner of the damaged vehicle.
In other activity Brandon Police:
ON FEB. 6
• Served a subpoena in-hand at the Brandon Police Department per request of the Vermont State Police in New Haven.
• Took fingerprints for nursing license and school employment.
• Provided report for insurance purposes to a late-reported vehicle hit in the Hannaford parking lot.
ON FEB. 7
• Responded to cables down in the road Mallory’s Automotive on Forest Dale Road.
• Took fingerprints for childcare employment and nursing license.
• Received report of an altercation between two students at Otter Valley Union High School.
• Made traffic stops Franklin Street and Conant Square for speeding and issued two warnings.
• Made routine business checks at a McKernon businesses on Jones Drive, Blue Seal Feeds on Alta Woods Road, the Senior Citizens Center on Forest Dale Road, and Grass Roots on Lovers Lane.
ON FEB. 8
• Made a motor vehicle stop (off-duty) on Route 125 in Bridport for a vehicle that was driving too fast for the road conditions.
• Responded to a stray dog on Grove Street.
• Responded to a fraudulent school shooting report at Otter Valley Union High School.
• Received an accidental 911 call from Wintergreen on New Rd Brandon Police responded to Wintergreen on New Road
• Took fingerprints for nursing licenses.
• Enforced speed limit on Franklin Street, stopping one operator and issuing a warning.
• Enforced traffic rules on Park Street.
• Made traffic stops on Franklin Street and High Street, Issue done warning for speeding and one for a stop sign violation.
• Made routine business check at Grass Roots on Lovers Lane.
ON FEB. 9
• Conducted routine business checks at Cattails Restaurant on Grove Street Fisher Electric on Franklin Street.
• Received a report of an erratic driver on Franklin Street and did not locate the vehicle.
• Made a report of damage done by falling snow to a vehicle by the Brandon Inn for insurance purposes.
• Took fingerprints for a nursing license.
• Enforced traffic on Park Street.
• Made traffic stops on Forest Dale Road, Park Street and Grove Street and issued warnings for failure to use a turn signal, speeding, and equipment violation.
• Began a background investigation for an Otter Valley Union High School student that will be doing an internship at the Brandon Police Department.
• Received report of a lost dog near Foley Taco and Bean.
• Received multiple reports of a fallen tree causing a traffic hazard on Short Swamp Road.
• Patrolled Franklin Street for cell phone violations and observed none.
• Patrolled downtown and Center Street with K-9 Guinness.
ON FEB. 10
• Received an accidental 911 call from Basin Road.
• Responded to a domestic disturbance at an apartment in Conant Square.
• Made a welfare check on a resident on Deer Run.
• Dealt with an ongoing complaint of two large dogs wandering loose on Carver Street.
• Assisted Brandon Area Rescue with a female in distress.
• Made traffic stops on Conant Square and Grove Street. issuing two warnings for stop sign violations and a ticket for speeding.
ON FEB. 11
• Responded to an alarm at Otterside Animal Hospital in Conant Square.
• Enforced traffic rules on Marble Street. Stopped three vehicles and issued one ticket.
• Made traffic stops on Park Street, Marble Street, Route 73, Conant Square, Franklin Street, Grove Street and Center Street. Issued five warnings and one ticket for speeding, and one warning each for stop sign violation, and defective equipment.
• Patrolled Franklin Street for cell phone violations and made no stops.
• Enforced speed on Franklin Street and Grove Street
• Assisted Vermont State Police-Rutland in attempting to locate a suspect vehicle at a residence on Franklin Street.
ON FEB. 12
• Enforced speed limit on Grove Street, stopping three vehicles and issuing three warnings.
• Responded to a glass break burglary alarm at a residence on Townline Drive that was later determined to be false.
• Made traffic stops on Grove Street, Franklin Street and Carver Street at Rossiter Road. Issued three warnings for speeding, one warning for not maintaining the proper lane, and a ticket for defective equipment.
• Served a Temporary Relief from Abuse Order to a Brandon resident at an apartment in Conant Square.
• Assisted in maintaining the peace as a female retrieved her property from her residence on Grove Street.
• Investigating a non-reportable crash in which the at-fault operator left the scene of the accident.
• Enforced traffic rules on Park Street.
