WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Chester, Vt., man charged with stealing a Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center shuttle van and leading police on a high-speed chase to Springfield, Vt., can be freed to attend an inpatient substance abuse treatment program, a Vermont judge ruled this week.
Mitchell Horton, 34, — who had three warrants out for his arrest at the time of an alleged early-morning crime spree that started in the Springfield area, led him to DHMC for treatment, and ended with a hospital shuttle bus abandoned back in Springfield — is incarcerated at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield pending ability to pay his $10,000 bail.
Horton pleaded not guilty in June to charges of grossly negligent operation of a vehicle, eluding a police officer, operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent and possession of stolen property.
In July, Horton himself hand-wrote from jail a plea to the court seeking to strike the bail amount, citing Vermont statutes against the imposition of “excessive bail” and requesting to be released on personal recognizance providing he attend a residential drug and rehab program, according to Horton’s case file.
On Thursday, following a bail hearing at Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction, Judge John Treadwell granted Horton’s petition, ruling that bail could be suspended providing the Department of Corrections confirms Horton has been admitted into a rehab program and that he goes “directly from jail to a residential inpatient substance abuse treatment facility in Vermont,” Treadwell wrote in his entry order.
Treadwell imposed multiple conditions for Horton to remain out of jail, including granting permission to the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office to communicate with his treatment facility to ensure Horton is complying with rehab program requirements.
The suspension of bail continues after Horton’s release from the residential facility as long as he remains enrolled and in compliance with the post-residential ongoing phase of the rehab program.
“Failure to comply with any of these requirements will result in immediate re-imposition of the bail or hold without bail previously imposed by the court,” Treadwell wrote.
For added emphasis, Treadwell warned in upper case letters: “VIOLATIONS OF ANY OF THESE CONDITIONS IS A CRIME” and could land Horton back in jail.
Horton has had numerous scrapes with the law in the Cavendish, Springfield and Chester, Vt., area. He’s been struggling with drug addiction since he was 16 years old, Horton’s court-appointed public defender told the court during his arraignment in June.
Horton’s crime spree began in the early morning hours of June 8 when he allegedly broke into a Springfield auto mechanic shop, backed a customer’s vehicle through the garage doors, later crashed the vehicle, was admitted to Springfield hospital to treat his injuries, transferred to DHMC for additional care. Horton then allegedly escaped from the emergency room and hopped into a shuttle bus and sped away finally ditching the bus near the Springfield mechanic’s shop where his adventure had begun about 12 hours earlier, according to a police affidavit filed in support of the charges.
Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.
