Man with stolen vehicle arrested after spending several nights inside vacant Waterbury armory

January 26, 2024 | By Mike Donoghue | Correspondent 

BURLINGTON – A well-traveled man has been ordered jailed after authorities said he stole a U.S. Forest Service vehicle in Manchester, took it on a joy ride throughout Vermont and the Northeast, and ultimately ended up inside the unused Vermont National Guard Armory in Waterbury for several days. 

A case in U.S. District Court this week involves a man charged with stealing a U.S. Forest Service vehicle. When he was apprehended, he had spent several nights inside the now decommissioned and vacant former Vermont National Guard armory in Waterbury. File photo by Gordon Miller

Andrew Chaves, 24, most recently from Washington, D.C., pleaded not guilty this week in U.S. District Court in Burlington to a felony charge of stealing a government-owned 2018 Jeep Compass in Bennington County between Dec. 29 and Jan. 1 with the intent to conceal and retain the vehicle.

Federal Magistrate Kevin J. Doyle ordered Chaves detained pending further proceedings in court. Chaves has been known to police in Vermont since at least 2016; in several newspaper stories about police investigations, he has been listed with a hometown of Hardwick. Chaves also is included in a published account of 2017 graduates from Green Mountain Technology and Career Center as a student attending there from Hazen Union High School. The prosecution in this current case maintains that he has no permanent address or employment. 

According to court documents, Chaves drove the white Jeep throughout Vermont and was traced through security video or GPS data to several stops, including a Cumberland Farms on South Main Street in Rutland, Walmart at the Berlin Mall, a gasoline station in Warren, and for extended stops at the former Vermont National Guard armory in Waterbury. 

The records also show Chaves traveled to New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey recently.

Chaves reportedly stole a U.S. Department of Agriculture credit card while in Conway, New Hampshire, and used it later to buy a ski lift ticket at Jay Peak Resort, records show.

When the Jeep was recovered in Waterbury on Jan. 4, it had license plates that were assigned to a 2018 Ford Fusion owned by the U.S. General Services Administration and allocated to the U.S. Army, according to court records. 

The Ford had been reported stolen from a recruiting station in Lodi, New Jersey, on Nov. 17.  Authorities said they recovered in Lodi an Army minivan that had been reported stolen from a military facility in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and that it had a fingerprint from Chaves, court records show.

The Ford was believed to be the same vehicle captured on a video in St. Johnsbury on Dec. 24 when a man matching Chaves stopped to buy fuel, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

The Marshals Service in Burlington determined Chaves was in Vermont this month and there was a pending full warrant seeking his extradition for being a fugitive from a Washington, D.C. case, court records show. In that case, investigators say he stole a National Park Service vehicle, donned park service clothing, and falsely told law enforcement that he worked for the service, according to court records.  Chaves was arrested due to multiple warrants, but he later failed to appear in court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Owyang said in his detention motion.   

The U.S. Forest Service in Vermont also was trying to locate him for its Manchester theft case.

Deputy marshals in Vermont learned that Chaves was going to be at the Sugarbush Ski Area last Friday night. Deputy marshals, state police, Homeland Security Investigations special agents, and forest service personnel went to Sugarbush looking for Chaves, who was taken into custody about 8:30 p.m. Chaves also had the stolen 2018 Ford, officials said.
Chaves was taken to the state police barracks in Berlin and later transferred to the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans about 1:30 a.m. Saturday pending a court hearing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Ophardt said in federal court this week that the wide-ranging investigation includes numerous police reports and photos and a post-arrest statement by Chaves.

Assistant Federal Defender Steven Barth asked for 90 days to investigate the case and consider pre-trial motions. Barth also said he needed time to inquire about possible substance abuse and mental health issues for Chaves and to study his criminal history.
Doyle, the judge, agreed to set an April 22 deadline.

Barth did not contest the detention request by Ophardt, but said he might revisit the issue down the road. 

Chaves has a prior felony conviction for receiving stolen property from Somerset County, New Jersey, as well as felony convictions in 2021 and 2023 for unlisted crimes in Virginia, court papers noted. Other court records note he has convictions for burglary, grand larceny of a firearm, and unlawful entry/use of motor vehicles.

Patrol Capt. Christopher J. Denton from the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations Division said Chaves set up a private encampment inside the closed armory in Waterbury for several days after the recent vehicle theft.

The Jeep, which had two government license plates and a two-way radio, had been inside a U.S. Forest Service building in Manchester indicating “Authorized Access Only,” records show.  There were conflicting federal reports on whether the garage was locked.   

The theft was reported to Manchester Police, and soon other state and federal law enforcement agencies were involved in the wide-ranging investigation that crossed state lines. As a result, the decision was made for the prosecution to happen in federal court, not state court.

The Jeep, which was valued at $15,000, was last seen on Dec. 27 and it was reported missing Jan. 3, Denton said. 

Denton initially filed a criminal complaint on Jan. 11 that included an 8-page affidavit outlining the case, records show. It was filed under seal until Chaves could be arrested. In the meantime, a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment a week later.  

If convicted on the single felony count, Chaves faces up to 10 years in prison.

GPS data showed the Jeep had been on Armory Drive in Waterbury on Jan. 2 and an updated report on Jan. 4 showed it was still at the National Guard armory. Denton, along with state police, responded to the scene to collect evidence.

Several receipts and a pill bottle with the name of Andrew Chaves with an address on Vermont Route 16 in East Hardwick were located, Denton said. The license plates on the Jeep were not assigned, but investigators found other license plates.

Two license plates found at the armory were reported stolen from the White Mountain National Forest Headquarters in New Hampshire in December 2023 and troopers located several other GPS devices with tags from the Manchester Ranger District, Denton said.  An inflatable air mattress, space heater, food and various receipts for purchases also were found at the armory.

Denton analyzed the receipts to try to trace the path of the Jeep, which stopped at a Cumberland Farms store on South Main Street in Rutland shortly after being taken from Manchester, records show.  Video from the store showed the driver of the Jeep after a small purchase about 2:42 a.m. Dec. 29.

Denton said he found a Facebook account for Chaves.  A picture posted there on Dec. 30 showed him in the same clothes as what he was wearing when he entered the Rutland store.  

Vermont State Police did a further examination of the Facebook profile and determined the picture was taken at Mohawk State Park in Litchfield, Connecticut, and the Jeep remained in the town Dec. 30-31 for at least 21 hours, according to court records.

Meanwhile, over the past two months, Chaves has burglarized and stolen from multiple commercial businesses in Vermont, including the theft of credit cards and gift cards, Owyang wrote in court papers. 

Vermont State Police reported they also have Chaves under investigation for some criminal complaints, including a burglary at the offices at the Smugglers' Notch Resort in Cambridge at about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 2.

State Trooper Clay Knight had provided three security video clips from the break-in that show a small man in a Carhartt hoodie rummaging through the offices as he held up his cell phone with the flashlight turned on.
Smugglers' Notch security disrupted the burglary. In a security video, the suspect is seen fleeing in a vehicle resembling the Army Ford, Deputy Marshal Kevin McConkey said in a court affidavit.