Carjack suspect jailed on $25K bail
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By Brent Curtis Staff Writer - Published: October 23, 2009
A Randolph man bullied his way into an elderly couple's car before stealing it and driving to Hampton, N.Y., where he was arrested Wednesday night, according to Fair Haven Police.
Gareth S. Fabian, 21, was stopped and arrested without incident by a Washington County (N.Y.) Sheriff's deputy and a New York State Police trooper at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. He remained in the Washington County jail in Fort Edward, N.Y., on Thursday for lack of $25,000 bail.
No one was hurt in the incident. But the elderly Quechee couple whose 2008 Audi station wagon was stolen was rattled as was a New York woman whom police say fended off an earlier attempt by Fabian to steal her car on Wednesday.
Fair Haven Police Chief William Humphries said police were called to the Vermont Welcome Center off Exit 1 of Route 4 at around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. They found the elderly couple — who police did not name — scared but unharmed from their encounter with Fabian, whom Humphries described as possibly mentally ill.
"The husband had gone to use the bathroom when Fabian climbed into the car with the wife," the chief said. "She thought it was her husband and screamed when she realized it wasn't. Fabian just told her he needed to go see his brother."
The elderly man, who Humphries said was 80 years old, ran back when he heard his wife scream. He managed to talk Fabian into getting out of the vehicle, but couldn't push his way past him into the driver's seat.
"They had a brief tussle," the chief said. "But the husband decided he didn't want to push it too far."
While the two men spoke, the elderly woman fled through the passenger's side of the vehicle.
Fabian left with the car, prompting a search for the vehicle that crossed county and state lines. For the better part of an hour, police were unable to locate the Audi, which was traveling on Route 22A in Hampton when police in New York stopped it.
Prior to the incident at the welcome center, a man matching Fabian's description tried to enter a woman's car just over the New York line on Golf Course Road about a half-mile from the welcome center, Humphries said. The attempt was foiled when the woman sped away from the scene, the chief said.
Fabian was arraigned in Granville Village Court Wednesday night on a charge of possession of stolen property third degree and on a felony warrant from Madison County, New York, where he is wanted for an alleged prior assault on a police officer.
Humphries said his department will apply for an arrest warrant to have Fabian returned to Vermont to face a charge of grand larceny.
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
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