BRISTOL — In the early morning hours of March 24, Bristol Police Officer George Crowe arrested 30-year-old Anoki J. Thompson of Salisbury. He was subsequently charged in the criminal division of Addison County Superior Court for the burglary of the Champlain Farms on Bristol’s West Street, where approximately $2,500-$3,000 in alcohol, cigarettes and other tobacco products was stolen.
Thompson was jailed on $25,000 bail, according to Police Chief Kevin E. Gibbs.
Police also arrested and cited four other Bristol residents — Anna Allen, 20, Joshua Adams, 18, and two minors, ages 16 and 17 — for possession of stolen property.
Just after midnight on March 24, Crowe responded to an alarm at Champlain Farms. According to Gibbs, when Crowe arrived he witnessed a man fleeing the scene to a nearby apartment building. Crowe called in backup from a state trouper and the Vergennes Police Department K-9 unit, led by Police Chief George Merkel.
Akido, the Vergennes K-9, followed a trail of broken glass to the apartment building Crowe had seen the suspect fleeing to.
The trooper observed suspicious activity at two apartments in the building, and after applying for and then acquiring a search warrant, the officers entered the two apartments.
Once inside, Chief Gibbs said, “They found almost all of the stolen items and some were located just outside.”
According to Gibbs, Thompson was in the store and was caught by a surveillance camera. There was at least one other person in the store who made nine to 10 trips to and from the apartments and the store, Gibbs said. A witness has verified the accomplice’s identity, but action has yet to be taken, according to Gibbs.
The alleged burglars are believed to have entered the store through a window with an attached air-conditioning unit on the west side of the building. According to Gibbs, the police department was not alerted to previous burglaries at this location because the alarm company was not reporting alarms that were caused by motion sensors.
Bristol police continue to investigate this incident as not all the property has been recovered. Anyone with information is asked to contact Bristol police at 453-2533.
Reporter Andrew Stein is at [email protected].