Bennington teenager faces charges in copper pipe theft
Toolbox
By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff - Published: January 8, 2009
BENNINGTON — A Gore Road teenager is facing felony charges after police said he broke into a former elementary school and stole copper piping.
Robert C. Ferris, 19, of Bennington, was charged with felony counts of burglary and unlawful mischief resulting in more than $1,000 damage and a misdemeanor count of petty larceny in Bennington District Court on Tuesday.
Ferris pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Bennington Police Officer Anthony Silvestro said in an affidavit that he had received information that Ferris had stolen copper pipes from Catamount Elementary School sometime between June and August.
According to the affidavit, Silvestro was contacted on Sept. 3 by a woman and a man who said they knew Ferris had broken into the school and taken the pipes because Ferris told them about it. Both said they had seen copper tubing in a backyard that Ferris told them was from the school, according to the affidavit.
The woman told police Ferris had sold the pipes to a business in North Adams, Mass.
Silvestro said he contacted a staff member of Applejack Real Estate, which owns the building, and asked whether pipes were missing. William Hall, who works for Applejack, confirmed that pipes were taken from under sinks and other areas.
The woman told Silvestro she believed Ferris had help taking the pipes to North Adams to sell. Silvestro said he spoke on Sept. 8 to the man who he believed had taken Ferris to North Adams.
Silvestro said the man told him he did take Ferris to North Adams and used his account with the store to help Ferris sell the pipes, but said he didn't know where Ferris got the pipes.
The store's records showed that the pipes were bought for about $265.
According to the affidavit, Silvestro had to put the case on hold for several months because neither the man nor the woman wanted to provide statements on the record to police.
However, the man and woman contacted Silvestro on Dec. 31 and agreed to give a statement.
Silvestro said Ferris also has pending charges from October for grand larceny and from December for retail theft and possession of a controlled narcotic.
Catamount Elementary School was one of four public elementary schools in Bennington.
The Bennington School Board made it a condition of a vote in 2006 that if voters allowed the district to send sixth-graders to Mount Anthony Union Middle School, the School Board would close Catamount to save money.
Catamount Elementary was closed after the 2006-07 school year and sold to Applejack for $250,000 in 2007.
Ferris is scheduled to return to court on April 8.
If convicted of all the charges against him related to the burglary of the former school, Ferris could be sentenced to up to 21 years in prison.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
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