http://rutlandherald.com/article/20130828/NEWS02/708289941
Joey Bergeron, 32, of Weathersfield was held for lack of $15,000 bail Monday after he pleaded innocent to charges of stealing a motorcycle and leading police on a chase through Springfield on Friday morning. Photo: PHOTO BY ERIC FRANCISPublished August 28, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Man denies stealing motorcycle, police pursuit By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT 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.
Kudos to VT State Police trooper Arlington for observant police work. Of course there isn't a law enforcement officer in Windsor County, neighbor, or acquaintance of Bergeron that isn't well aware he will steal anything he can get his hands on.
ReplyDeleteI and many others (especially law enforcement) have great contempt for the criminal justice system here in Vermont. Bergeron has ample convictions to have been sentenced for life as a habitual offender. Yet liberal judges appointed by many years of liberal governors here in Vermont have given us the government we deserve.
So suck it up progressive liberals. If you voted for Shumlin, you've got exactly what you bargined for.
For ref:
The Vermont judiciary is composed of the supreme court; the trial courts, including the superior court which hears predominantly civil cases, the district court which hears primarily criminal cases, and the family court; and courts of special jurisdiction, including the probate court, the environmental court, and the judicial bureau. Vermont judges are appointed by the governor from a list of candidates submitted by the judicial nominating board. Judges serve six-year terms and must then be retained by a majority vote of the general assembly.
Can't we get 1 news story on this blog without draggin their hate of "Liberals" into this.
ReplyDeleteGets pretty old quick guys
Must suck going thru life with so much dislike for your fellow man.
But hey I'm a liberal, what do I know!
Last time I checked we had a multi-term Republican govennor
just a few years ago. So all of the judges in vermont can not be just libs.
We don't hate our fellow Liberals, we just hate what our policies have morphed into.
DeleteFirst of all, disagreeing with policy does not equate to hate. I disagree with liberal policy. These policies are leading to the demise of our state and nation. Not to mention little ol Springfield. You are hearing the frustration of the hard working, conservative segment of the population who see our incomes shrinking not because we earn less, but because government at all levels take more. We conservatives don't hate the poor. We 'hate' (to use your word) people who are too lazy to get up and earn a living. It ain't easy. They take the easy way and put their hand out. Our 'liberal' goverment continues to hand out our hard earned dollars (and a pile they borrow) to the people who we feel, simply, don't deserve our help when they are capable of helping themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, our judiciary pats the criminal on the head and tells them to be good people, don't do it again. Let's admit there are people who are bad, evil. They should be put away. Period.
Unfortunately for his family, Joey seems hell bent on following the wrong road.
ReplyDeletere:"Unfortunately for his family,......."
ReplyDeleteHuh? Bergeron has been a 1-man crime spree going on 20 years. The product of dysfunctional, enabling family that has hence cast the name Bergeron synonymous with theft and burglary.
If there is anyone that is unfortunate in this matter, it's his dozens on victims. Your sympathy is wholly misplaced.
Anon @ 4:50 PM. Just to let you know, I knew Joey's father and step-mother very well. We were very good friends back when Joey started getting into trouble. They called the cops on him themselves, many times as I remember, and they were told at that time that there was no place to put criminal kids, the state couldn't do anything about him or his stealing. They'd slap him on the hand and send him on his way. Not much of a deterrent for a troubled kid. They tried to get him counselling but he wouldn't go. They tried making house rules that he would not follow, he'd just run away and live with other people (the true enablers). He also has a sister who has done quite well for herself, so much for your so-called "dysfunctional, enabling family" Don't blame his parents, they did what they could. Blame the State of Vermont for not taking the action when he was young and perhaps had a chance at learning a lesson while he was still somewhat impressionable. Even as an adult he's been in and out of the slammer, all slaps on the wrists. Believe me, I don't pity Joey and the choices he has made at all. I am a victim of his crimes myself. But when you start putting down hard-working, honest people, you've gone too far.
ReplyDeleteamen
DeleteIt's interesting how the various anonymice (and the Machinist) dump on people for their transgressions rather than the outfits that commit far, far worse evil. A recent letter writer to one of the regional papers pointed out how the cost to America of the tax evasion practiced by a handful of the biggest corporations was greater than the cost of150 million households on welfare fleecing the taxpayer-- and there aren't 150 million households in all of America!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me those people have been duped into dumping on their fellow citizens rather than casting a critical eye on their dupers and demanding justice where justice is really due. Bergeron is just a red herring to what's really going on.
Something smells fishy here...Oh, it must be the "red herring" that CG is tossing into the discussion, as usual. CG will go to his grave envying the property and wealth of others and asserting to the devil that he deserved what the others had, including their expensive headstones no doubt!
DeleteSo Chuck, let's see if I got this right.
ReplyDeleteLarge corporations practice tax evasion, so it's ok for punks like Bergeron to steal from his fellow citizens and endanger complete strangers with high speed chases. Not to mention beat up his girlfriend to the point where she had him thrown in jail.
Did it not occur to you that decent people do not use the excuse of corporate pillage as a justification for sinking to the level that this punk and his ilk have sunk to?
Hey, Jean, when you let your feelings about individuals' transgressions override your need to be aware of crimes by the extremely powerful, you hurt yourself.
DeleteIf Exxon alone paid its fair share of taxes, we could have a fully-funded court system that could hear cases like Bergeron's in months rather than years (strengthening the link between the act and the consequences, for one thing). We could have better-functioning systems of punishment and rehabilitation. We could have stronger systems in place for employment and family function. But instead we have people who are geared to the "club the poor and the stupid" style.
Recently, an Entergy suit came up to tell the Vermont Yankee staff they were shutting down the plant. What the public did not know was that Entergy had hired private, armed security to protect him. Where did Entergy get the idea that American workers who make $60,000 a year are going to throw bricks and Molotov cocktails when they hear they're out of a job? It is indicative of the establishment of a plutocracy in America-- and a plutocracy that is aware it is doing wrong.
Don't feed the troll.
ReplyDeleteWhere did the girlfriend abuse come from?
ReplyDelete@5:15 - I know one of the guy's ex-girlfriends. He moved in with her in North Springfield and then started beating her up. She finally had him tossed into jail. This was about 5 years ago.
ReplyDeleteJean that is totally untrue! He has no record of domestic assault! The so called girlfriend happened to be cheating on him that's why he left her. If you have evidence then prove it! They had a child together 5 years ago so I'm not sure where you got your inaccurate information. In addition, they had been living with each other for years before the child was born.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous. If this was the same girlfriend then he "left" her to go to jail. Maybe it was a different girlfriend he had a child with that you are thinking of.
ReplyDeleteThat's such BS, Jean! Where is your proof that he has domestic violence charges? Where are the newspaper articles indicating such charges? You should stop such slanderous accusations without proof.
ReplyDeleteHey anonymous, before you start accusing anyone of slander maybe you should start posting under a NAME.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I knew the girlfriend who had him put in jail. He had moved in with her and her other "friends." This was in 2009 so like I said it may have been a different girlfriend then the one you are thinking of.
I wouldn't expect a newspaper article every time some creep gets thrown into jail. I mean really, you could have an entire newspaper devoted to which dirtbags stole cars, sold drugs, stole property, drove drunk, beat up their girlfriends, started street fights. You expect each and every nit to be worthy of a newspaper article?
My, my, why are we arguing over the virtues of this POS. Clearly he is not beyond reproach, and I agree, just because it doesn't make the papers, doesn't mean it didn't happen. Why so concerned? Are you his mother?
ReplyDelete