Three men accused of stealing dynamite to exchange for drugs
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VALLEY NEWS - Published: January 14, 2010
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Three Upper Valley men pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of stealing more than 200 sticks of dynamite and other industrial equipment from Rock of Ages quarry in Bethel, in a case that vexed authorities for more than a year.
Josh Hill, 19, and Jason Hicks, 18, both of Bethel, and Thomas Gauthier, 21, of Northfield, pleaded not guilty in Windsor District Court to charges of grand larceny, aiding in the commission of a felony and explosives possession.
According to court documents, the men stole the dynamite in hope of exchanging it for cocaine. The case drew the attention of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and was broken when another man gave police an account of the theft. That man, Mikel Brady, 20, of Hancock, is scheduled to be arraigned on the same charges at a later date, according to court documents. Hill and Brady already face charges in connection with the invasion of the home of a South Royalton couple. They jumped bail on those charges and fled to Mexico, where they were captured in October.
An affidavit filed by Vermont State Police Detective Brian Berry gives the following account:
On Aug. 7, 2008, the men cut a lock at the main gate of the quarry, and forced their way into a main office, where they took several aluminum poles and the keys to a front-end loader parked nearby.
In an interview with police, Brady said that Hill had been inside the quarry before, driving trucks. It was unclear in what capacity Hill had previous access to the quarry.
The men then drove the front-end loader and towed away another truck that was blocking access to storage containers. The men broke into the containers and stole 209 sticks of dynamite, along with several rolls of detonation cord, a power saw and a generator. The dynamite and detonation cord were recovered days later at the end of Kendall Road in Brookfield at a hangout spot known as "the foundation."
The men kept the dynamite there while they waited for drug suppliers to come up with cocaine to make the exchange. But the suppliers backed out of the deal, and as the men had no use of their own for the dynamite, they decided to stash it in a well-trafficked area so that someone else might find it and claim a reward.
"Brady advised that they knew a bunch of people went up there and smoked pot all the time," according to the affidavit.
When police asked Brady why the men didn't turn in the dynamite to claim the reward for themselves, he said that "not getting caught and charged with it would be a reward."
Hill and Brady also face charges of burglary of an occupied dwelling and assault and robbery with injuries for a June 30 invasion of a South Royalton home. During the invasion, assailants beat homeowner Janet Babcock and her teenage son with baseball bats, according to court documents.
After Hill and Brady were charged with the home invasion and released on bail, they fled to Mexico in a Dodge van with their girlfriend's significant others, an infant and a pit bull. The men were arrested in Cancun after nearly two weeks at large.
Authorities picked up their trail when the mother of Brady's girlfriend called police. Brady also has been charged in connection to the quarry theft, according to court documents. But his case has been transferred to Chittenden County, where his arraignment is scheduled for later this month, according to court documents.
Brady was being held in Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility. Hicks and Gauthier were out on bail and could not be reached for comment.
Hill's whereabouts were unclear yesterday.
The men each face a combined 30 years maximum in prison on the charges.
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