Mass. burglars suspected in Vt. break-ins
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: November 21, 2009
SHAFTSBURY – A Massachusetts man will face charges he led a three-state burglary ring that struck five residences in southern Vermont.
On Nov. 13, police arrested Stefan Veremko, 28, of Pittsfield, Mass., in nearby Lenox, Mass., on charges of burglary, larceny, breaking and entering and possessing ammunition without a permit. Veremko was arraigned Monday in court in Great Barrington, Mass., on charges he robbed five residences in Lenox, one of 14 jurisdictions across Massachusetts, New York and Vermont where he will likely face similar charges, police said.
"This investigation includes 13 other jurisdictions," said Lenox Police Chief Stephen E. O'Brien. One of those jurisdictions belongs to Vermont State Police.
"We had one break-in in September, and a rash of them in November," said Sgt. Brian Turner of the Shaftsbury Barracks. Turner said police have connected Veremko with five burglaries in the area: two in Readsboro, two in Searsburg and one in Stamford.
According to Turner, Veremko would call residents during the day, and if nobody answered he would go to the home and knock on the door.
"If somebody was there they'd make up a story about a lost dog or something," Turner said.
The afternoon of Nov. 11, police said, a witness saw a vehicle backing up quickly out of a driveway in Lenox and watched a man run across the lawn carrying a pillowcase. The man jumped into the car and sped off, but not before the witness took down the license plate.
On Nov. 13, police found the car in Pittsfield, and searched the car and Veremko's residence and recovered hundreds of stolen items, police said.
Witnesses also spotted a vehicle matching the description used by Veremko around the times of the robberies in southern Vermont, Turner said.
"The way this came about was people being concerned about a suspicious vehicle," said Turner, urging people who see suspicious vehicles in their neighborhoods to take down plate numbers and call the police.
Thursday, police held a public viewing of items allegedly stolen by Veremko, which filled nine 8-foot-long tables in the Lenox Town Hall, O'Brien said.
"We had 20 to 25 people who identified property that belonged to them," O'Brien said.
Vermont police met southern Vermont burglary victims in Lenox during the viewing to take additional statements, Turner said.
"They had everything lined up, from TVs to knives to DVDs, you name it," Turner said.
Turner said he did not know when Veremko will be charged in Vermont. Veremko is jailed in Pittsfield, Mass. His alleged accomplice, Tara Malloy, 25, of Pittsfield, has been cooperating with police and will face charges in the future, O'Brien said.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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