WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A 52-year-old Bethel man accused of firing a gun at his partner while children were present has been sentenced to five months in prison, according to court documents.
Richard Boles pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment last week for the incident in September 2019. Though the incident happened in Orange County, Boles pleaded and was sentenced in front of Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Mann in Windsor Superior Court where he had a pending violation of conditions of release case, according to court documents.
As part of his plea deal, prosecutors dismissed that charge against Boles; he was sentenced to 5 to 6 months in prison and issued a $441 fine for the reckless endangerment charge, according to his sentencing sheet.
The sentencing stems from an incident on Sept. 1 when Boles was accused of firing several shots at his partner, India Tweedie, outside her brother Brian Moore’s home on Clarksville Road in Tunbridge. Police say Boles and Tweedie had a domestic dispute earlier that day and Boles had gone to the Tunbridge home to retrieve some of his belongings.
While there, Boles chased Tweedie around the yard, firing a gun at her, Moore and in the direction of two of Moore’s children, police said. Witnesses have said Boles used a handgun but Boles claimed it was a pellet gun.
Boles left the scene without injuring anyone and was later cited with first-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, though the charge was downgraded to reckless endangerment. Police also charged him with violating the conditions of his release because Boles was facing a separate firearms charge out of Windsor County at the time of the incident.
In the earlier case, Boles had been accused of firing a gun at a man outside Boles’ home in Bethel in December 2018. Boles pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor weapons charge in January 2020 and was sentenced to time served for the Bethel offense.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.