WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A 30-year-old Randolph woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to accusations she and a 32-year-old man robbed several homes and stole a Jeep, which they marked with the words “Bonnie and Clyde 2021” during a three-county crime spree last month.
Amanda Conant was arraigned at the hearing on multiple counts including burglary, possession of stolen property and larceny. Though the virtual hearing was held in Windsor Superior Court, she was also arraigned on related charges out of Addison and Orange counties during the hearing.
Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Mann ordered Conant be released with conditions including that she stay under 24-hour curfew at her mother’s home in Randolph; that she have no contact with her alleged co-conspirator Kevin Bent; and that she not use or possess any drugs or alcohol.
Conant, who appeared virtually from a room in the Southern State Correctional Facility Tuesday, didn’t speak during the hearing but at points held her face in her hands as attorneys and prosecutors detailed the charges against her.
During the hearing, prosecutors from the three different counties argued that Conant is a flight risk because she has already run from police multiple times and did not go to court when ordered on an unrelated hearing in April.
“Historically, she has a failure to appear,” said Addison County State’s Attorney Dennis Wygmans.
But two public defenders representing Conant argued that apart from this spate of charges, Conant does not have a lengthy criminal history.
“She is having some issues with substances, I think that’s what’s going on here,” Mimi Brill, one of the attorneys representing Conant said.
In her decision, Mann agreed with Brill that Conant’s criminal history is minimal, calling the past month a “pretty substantial departure,” from the norm for the 30-year-old. She added that over the last few days, Conant has shown she may be remorseful for her actions.
The charges stem from a series of burglaries Conant is accused of committing in several Vermont towns between May 10 and 21. In the first incident, a Pomfret woman told police her home had been broken into and a checkbook and her 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee had been stolen while she was away, according to an affidavit from Vermont State Police Trooper Robert Lemnah. Police later found video surveillance of Conant cashing one of the checks at a supermarket in Lebanon, Lemnah wrote.
Then on May 11, a woman in Granville, Vt., an Addison county town, captured home security footage of Conant and Bent entering her neighbor’s home, the affidavit said.
The woman called police, who investigated the burglary and found that a camera system had been stolen from inside, according to the affidavit.
On May 20, police were called to Mill Branch Market and Deli in East Randolph to investigate three people outside the store who appeared to be impaired.
There, they found the Jeep, which had been spray-painted with the words “Bonnie and Clyde 2021” and Bent and Conant asleep inside, according to police.
The pair initially tried to drive away from police but when the car got stuck in some mud, they tried to flee on foot, police said.
Bent was arrested a short time later after a witness saw him get out of a stolen septic truck belonging to Silloway’s Septic Service in East Randolph, police said. He pleaded not guilty to similar charges last week in connection with the crimes and was ordered held with a $2,500 bail in Southern State Correctional Facility.
Conant remained at large until Saturday, when police got a call that she was near Silloway Road in Randolph, according to a news release from Vermont State Police.
When officers pulled over the car Conant was riding in, she tried to run again, but troopers were able to stop her, the release said.
Police also investigated a burglary from a home in Barnard after finding items missing from that home in the Jeep.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.