HARTFORD — Police arrested three people on Friday after obtaining a warrant for a unit in the Briarcliff apartment complex in Quechee. Meanwhile, neighbors expressed alarm over recent events and a partner in the complex’s management company says it’s constrained in how quickly Vermont can convict a problem tenant.
Around 7 a.m. on Friday, Hartford police arrested Andrea Gilbert, 37, outside of her apartment at 73 Cross St. on charges of possession of cocaine, fentanyl trafficking and possession of depressants, stimulants and narcotics, according to a Hartford Police Department news release.
Police ordered occupants in apartment 4B to come outside and detained all five of them prior to officers entering the apartment. Three people were from the Upper Valley, two from Hartford and one from Tunbridge, and one person was from Hartford, Conn., and another was from Meredith, N.H., said the news release. Three people were arrested, including Gilbert, and the other two were released from the scene.
Outside, Gilbert was in possession of “a large quantity of cocaine,” according to the news release. On another person, officers found a “small amount of cocaine” and a “large quantity of U.S. currency.” Another individual had an active, in-state warrant.
Officers subsequently obtained a second search warrant for the apartment and, in total, seized cocaine, fentanyl, prescription medication and U.S. currency.
The original warrant arose from an assault investigation stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred at apartment 4B earlier this month.
On March 3, Hartford police were dispatched to Quechee Jiffy Mart on Woodstock Road, where a man exhibited symptoms of having been hit with pepper spray, which he told police occurred at Gilbert’s apartment, according to the search warrant affidavit.
In interviews, the man and his female companion told police a man they knew only as “Detroit” attempted to steal the woman’s bag inside Gilbert’s apartment and when the man stepped in between them, “Detroit” sprayed him with mace, according to the affidavit.
Police subsequently obtained a search warrant to locate the spray canister and anything that could be used to identify “Detroit.” The status of that investigation is ongoing, Community Outreach Lt. William Furnari said Wednesday by phone.
Brynn Murphy, who lives in a unit below 4B, moved in just a few months back. Murphy said she observed so many different people coming and going from upstairs, she could not tell who actually lived there.
“I don’t know if even the people that are staying up there right now are the original people on the lease,” Murphy said Tuesday at her apartment.
Murphy said she often arrived home from work at 11 p.m. to see every parking spot full, only for cars belonging to visitors to clear out at 3 a.m.
“You see at least five to 10 people coming in and out of the apartment. Once they’re in there, they’re quiet,” said Murphy.
Despite suspecting some criminal activity, Murphy said she had not observed anything illegal, but she was struck by the demographics of the visitors.
“I can see the oldest man and then the youngest 19-year-old girl, and a baby. I’ve seen a baby up there. Literally the craziest age range you could think of,” said Murphy.
Briarcliff Hartford Vt. LLC, which owns the complex, started legal action against Gilbert earlier this year.
Briarcliff decided to terminate Gilbert’s lease contract because she was not paying rent, providing formal notice to her on Jan. 15, said Jeffrey Gorodensky, a managing partner of Briarcliff Management Inc., a related entity based in Chelmsford, Mass., that manages the complex.
When Gilbert refused to vacate the premises, Briarcliff filed a civil suit against Gilbert in Windsor County Superior Court on March 4.
While the eviction process was initiated months ago, there have been delays, Gorodensky said.
“I believe we have a court date scheduled this Friday, but she had to be served last Friday, and evidently, they didn’t serve her last Friday,” said Gorodensky.
Gilbert’s lease, which started in January of 2025, is set to end on March 31 regardless, said Gorodensky, but there is still a concern that she won’t leave even then.
Gilbert was released from police custody on citation on the day of her arrest, Furnari said Tuesday by email. Her arraignment date is scheduled for May 26 at Windsor County District Court, located at 82 Railroad Row in White River Junction.
Nobody answered when a reporter knocked on the door of apartment 4B on Tuesday.
Two other residents of the complex — who asked to be referred to by their first names — both said the complex had been a nice place to live until recent months, when police have visited multiple times even before Friday’s arrests.
A nearby neighbor in the apartments, Michelle, who works as a nurse’s aide, said she was not home on Friday when police made arrests. However, she had her concerns about the apartment where police conducted their search.
She said the unit had many people coming and going at odd hours and that visitors occasionally rang her doorbell by mistake.
Back in December, Michelle said, the word “Drugs” was spray painted on the outside of the apartment building. She said she has seen police four times at their complex, always in relation to unit 4B. She also has found needles outside on multiple occasions.
In four and a half years living in the complex, which is tucked off of Route 4 in a residential area, Michelle said she never had concerns about her neighbors until recently. But now, she’s thinking about moving somewhere else.
“This is a nice place, very quiet,” said Michelle.
Another tenant, Benny, said he was home when police descended on the apartment on Friday morning. The police activity has been unnerving, including the searches that police have conducted while wearing what he described as hazmat suits.
“We’re moving out next week. We’re out of here,” Benny said in an interview at his door on Tuesday.
For the first few years living at Briarcliff, he said, it felt safer and more normal: “It’s just been the past three or four months that it’s just been people coming and going and police in the parking lot every other week.”