By Eric Francis, Standard Correspondent
WOODSTOCK — A foot chase with a police sergeant through downtown Woodstock on Saturday morning punctuated a rapidly unfolding investigation, which began with a burglary on Hartland Hill Road on Friday and ended late Saturday morning with the suspect’s arrest in Windsor.
Claremont resident Joshua Robbie Converse, 44, who police said also has used the alias “Ricky Larson,” was captured late Saturday morning during a traffic stop in Windsor a short time after he’d managed to sprint away from the TD Bank branch on Elm Street in Woodstock.
Police had been looking for Converse in the wake of a burglary on Hartland Hill Road, which was discovered early Friday afternoon.
Woodstock Police Officer Jacob Holmes reported that someone had entered an unlocked residence on Hartland Hill and stolen the homeowner’s purse along with some of her checks.
Police said that a short time later Converse showed up at the Lake Sunapee Bank branch in Woodstock and cashed one of the homeowner’s checks, which he’d allegedly made out to himself while forging the homeowner’s signature.
Converse was identified by both his identification which he showed to bank tellers and the police’s subsequent review of the bank’s surveillance camera videos, Woodstock Police Chief Robbie Blish said in a press release Saturday, noting that Converse had been charged with committing similar crimes in Woodstock back in 2013.
During the course of their investigation on Friday, Woodstock Police learned Hartford Police were also investigating an alleged forgery incident in which they suspect Converse had broken into a Hartford house, stolen checks, and then cashed one at the People’s United Bank branch in Woodstock.
Police quickly circulated photos of Converse to all of the banks in the Woodstock area and on Saturday morning they received a call from the TD Bank branch on Elm Street reporting that Converse was inside and was in the process of cashing a check.
Woodstock Police Sgt. Joseph Swanson responded and encountered Converse just as he was heading out the door onto the sidewalk.
“Upon seeing Sgt. Swanson and being ordered to stop, the accused allegedly ran on foot and was able to elude Sgt. Swanson,” Chief Blish said.
An area-wide “Be On the Lookout (BOLO)” broadcast was put out to surrounding police agencies and a short time later Converse was pulled over by police in Windsor and taken into custody.
Police seized Converse’s car and impounded it at the Hartford Police Station where it is currently the focus of an application to a judge requesting a search warrant to allow officers to go through it.
Further investigation showed that the check Converse allegedly forged and cashed at the TD Bank branch was taken in a reported burglary on Hartland Hill Road, police said.
Converse is being held for lack of $75,000 bail at the Springfield jail and is due in court in downtown White River Junction on Monday afternoon where he is expected to be arraigned on two counts of burglary and two counts of false pretenses as well as uttering a forged instrument and resisting arrest.
Converse also currently has outstanding warrants for his arrest from Florida where he is wanted on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
This article first appeared in the January 12, 2017 edition of the Vermont Standard.