State police arrest Waterbury man with court order to stay in Maine
Sept. 25, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti A Waterbury man released from jail to live in Maine while awaiting court action on multiple criminal charges was back in jail this weekend after state police arrested him Friday night in Waterbury Center.
An arraignment is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. today for John T. Neville, 51, according to Vermont State Police.
A state police press release early Saturday morning said Neville was arrested Friday night and cited to appear in court to face charges of violating conditions of release, violating a relief from abuse order, leaving the scene of an accident, and resisting arrest.
In addition, a second state police release on Monday morning adds an additional 20 counts of violating release conditions and three charges of violating the abuse prevention order.
Neville on Aug. 31 was granted permission from Judge Kevin Griffin in Washington County criminal court to move to a property in Maine while awaiting court proceedings on a list of misdemeanor charges and a felony count of attempted first-degree arson.
The latter was in connection with an incident in Waterbury Center in July when police say Neville planted a Molotov cocktail at the home of a business associate with whom he had been having escalating encounters.
Neville was held in custody following that incident and was released briefly before causing disruptions in his Loomis Hill Road neighborhood. He was arrested again on Aug. 2 and held until the Aug. 31 hearing when the court ultimately granted a request from his defense attorney to allow Neville to relocate out of state.
According to the Saturday state police account, police received a report at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Friday that Neville was in Waterbury and in violation of a relief from abuse order and his court-ordered conditions of release. In the course of police responding, troopers said he crashed his car on Guptil Road and damaged property.
“He was taken into custody after fleeing the scene on foot and transported without incident to the Berlin barracks for processing,” the police press release says.
The police account did not specify what or whose property was damaged. A neighbor on Loomis Hill told Waterbury Roundabout mailboxes were damaged in the vicinity of Neville’s home there.
Neville was issued a citation to appear in Washington County Superior Court Criminal Division at 12:30 p.m. today, police said. He was lodged at Northeast State Correctional Facility in St. Johnsbury for lack of $1,000 bail, according to state corrections records.
In the latest police press release Monday morning, Trooper Mae Murdock said state police were notified on Sept. 16 that Neville was in Waterbury in violation of his release conditions. Troopers were unable to locate Neville at that time, she noted. The follow-up release says that Neville received the citation on Sunday at the correctional facility with the additional charges.