MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury police on Sept. 20, got medical help for a wanted individual who sustained what they described as “severe head injuries” after jumping from a third-story window in a failed attempt to escape authorities who had come to arrest him.
At around 10:15 a.m. this past Thursday, police received a tip that Joseph A. Wedge Jr., 34, who has no permanent address, was entering a Court Street apartment with a tenant of that building. Wedge was wanted on an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court for two charges of aggravated assault, according to Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley.
Police said the tenant allowed them to enter his apartment and they found Wedge had locked himself in the bathroom.
Wedge pushed out a screen window and jumped out the window, falling around 22 feet to the ground, according to Hanley. Wedge sustained a severe head wound as a result of the fall, according to authorities. Rescue officials took Wedge to Porter Hospital, but the extent of his injuries required him to be airlifted to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where early this week he was listed in critical but stable condition, police said.
In other action last week, Middlebury police:
•  Warned a driver who had allegedly been driving unsafely in a construction area off Jackson Lane on Sept. 17.
•  Assisted a Benedict Lane resident who on Sept. 18 reported a family member had allegedly been taking money out of his bank account without his permission.
•  Received a report about the theft of handlebars from a bicycle parked off Bakery Lane on Sept. 18.
•  Responded, with rescue officials, to some woods off Weybridge Street on a report of a woman threatening to commit suicide on Sept. 18. Police said the woman was taken to Porter Hospital for a mental health evaluation.
•  Found the owner of a bank debit card that someone had found in Court Square and turned into police on Sept. 20.
•  Responded to a harassment complaint at a Route 7 South location on Sept. 20.
•  Were informed a tool bag and drill set had been taken from an East Munger Street resident’s yard on Sept. 20.
•  Worked with a Colchester school resource officer on a case involving an explicit video that had allegedly been sent to a Middlebury Union High School student on Sept. 20.
•  Responded to a fraud complaint at an Overbrook Drive residence on Sept. 20.
•  Responded to a report of a vehicle leaving the scene of an accident on Court Street on Sept. 21.
•  Followed up on a truancy report at MUHS on Sept. 21.
•  Began an investigation on Sept. 21 into an allegation of “fraudulent activity” related to state aid. Police said the report came from someone at Mary Hogan Elementary School.
•  Assisted the Vermont Department for Children & Families in serving court-related paperwork to a person at Porter Hospital on Sept. 22.
•  Received a call on Sept. 22 from a Benedict Lane resident who feared a family member living in another Vermont community might be suicidal. Police contacted authorities in the jurisdiction of that troubled family member.
•  Received a report that some tractor weights had been stolen from a Route 7 North property on Sept. 22.
•  Helped Middlebury Regional EMS officials get into a locked apartment on Water Street on Sept. 22 in order to get to a patient.
•  Received a noise complaint about a large party at a Washington Street residence during the evening of Sept. 23. After a second complaint, officers helped the resident close down the party.
•  Helped Middlebury Regional EMS take care of a woman who’d made some suicidal comments on Court Street on Sept. 23.
•  Received a complaint from a Case Street resident who said someone had stolen a marijuana plant from his property on Sept. 23.
Based on new state law, Vermonters are now allowed to cultivate up to two adult marijuana plants on their property and possess up to one ounce of the substance.
•  Were informed of the theft of a box of silverware from a vehicle parked off Seymour Street on Sept. 23. Police said the sterling-Stieff silverware bears the engraved initials “MSB.” Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Middlebury police at 388-3191.
•  Stood by at a Case Street residence during the exchange of some personal property between two people on Sept. 23.