Photo by Eric Francis
Loren Washburn appears Monday in White River Junction criminal court to face a series of charges connected to an alleged rampage in a tavern parking lot in Ludlow.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A man who allegedly went on a violent rampage outside a Ludlow tavern Saturday night is facing nearly a dozen criminal charges as a result.
Loren Washburn, 33, who listed addresses in Killington and Bethel, pleaded innocent to a felony count of attempted grand larceny and to a series of misdemeanor counts of simple assault, disorderly conduct, unlawful mischief, operating a vehicle without consent and drunken driving before he was released from White River Junction criminal court Monday.
Ludlow Police Sgt. Richard King said police were called just before midnight Saturday for a report that a man was attacking people in the parking lot of Tom’s Loft and trying to steal a taxi.
King said when he arrived at the bar, cab driver Melvin DeGrasse told him that a man wearing a bright red Red Sox baseball jersey had come outside while he was waiting to pick up a party of people and appeared to be on the brink of urinating on the back of his taxi.
DeGrasse said he was “jumped” when he got out to ask the subject what he was doing. He said the man, who was later identified as Washburn, punched him in the face, broke his glasses, then climbed in behind the wheel and tried to drive away with the cab.
Police said bystanders pulled Washburn from the cab and tried unsuccessfully to wrestle him to the ground, getting kicked and punched in the process.
King said Washburn went to the other side of the parking lot and started a silver pickup, but the officer blocked the truck with his cruiser. Washburn then ran off and jumped over a steep embankment into a wooded area.
Minutes later, King said, Washburn reappeared in the parking lot and got into a fight with several patrons trying to detain him.
Vermont State Police troopers were called for backup as King and bystanders struggled with the “extremely combative” Washburn before finally getting him into handcuffs.
“Washburn continued to yell obscenities, talk nonsensically and scream” once he arrived at the police station, King wrote, and at one point, Washburn grabbed a trooper’s gun belt.
King said police were unable to get Washburn to calm down enough to take an alcohol breath test.
“Throughout my interaction with Mr. Washburn, I could smell the heavy odor of intoxicants … he was unsteady on his feet … (and) his eyes were bloodshot and watery,” the officer wrote.
Washburn has prior convictions for marijuana possession, drunken driving and attempting to elude police.
He was ordered not to enter Tom’s Loft as one of his release conditions.
Loren Washburn, 33, who listed addresses in Killington and Bethel, pleaded innocent to a felony count of attempted grand larceny and to a series of misdemeanor counts of simple assault, disorderly conduct, unlawful mischief, operating a vehicle without consent and drunken driving before he was released from White River Junction criminal court Monday.
Ludlow Police Sgt. Richard King said police were called just before midnight Saturday for a report that a man was attacking people in the parking lot of Tom’s Loft and trying to steal a taxi.
King said when he arrived at the bar, cab driver Melvin DeGrasse told him that a man wearing a bright red Red Sox baseball jersey had come outside while he was waiting to pick up a party of people and appeared to be on the brink of urinating on the back of his taxi.
DeGrasse said he was “jumped” when he got out to ask the subject what he was doing. He said the man, who was later identified as Washburn, punched him in the face, broke his glasses, then climbed in behind the wheel and tried to drive away with the cab.
Police said bystanders pulled Washburn from the cab and tried unsuccessfully to wrestle him to the ground, getting kicked and punched in the process.
King said Washburn went to the other side of the parking lot and started a silver pickup, but the officer blocked the truck with his cruiser. Washburn then ran off and jumped over a steep embankment into a wooded area.
Minutes later, King said, Washburn reappeared in the parking lot and got into a fight with several patrons trying to detain him.
Vermont State Police troopers were called for backup as King and bystanders struggled with the “extremely combative” Washburn before finally getting him into handcuffs.
“Washburn continued to yell obscenities, talk nonsensically and scream” once he arrived at the police station, King wrote, and at one point, Washburn grabbed a trooper’s gun belt.
King said police were unable to get Washburn to calm down enough to take an alcohol breath test.
“Throughout my interaction with Mr. Washburn, I could smell the heavy odor of intoxicants … he was unsteady on his feet … (and) his eyes were bloodshot and watery,” the officer wrote.
Washburn has prior convictions for marijuana possession, drunken driving and attempting to elude police.
He was ordered not to enter Tom’s Loft as one of his release conditions.
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