Going deep
Stick season
Winter life of salamanders
Sights and sounds from deer camp
Page 11
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December 12, 2024
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Neighbors helping neighbors
Crime steadily rises, stolen vehicles spike PATRICK BILOW STAFF WRITER
COURTESY PHOTO
Members of the Hinesburg Community Resource Center gather for a selfie after a successful Thanksgiving meal drive. See story, page 2.
Habitat works deal with Laster developer PATRICK BILOW STAFF WRITER
An application for another phase of Joe Laster’s development appeared before the Hinesburg Development Review Board last week, although the board did not make a decision. The first part of the project, Phase 1A, was approved three
years ago along with the project’s preliminary master plan and encompasses eight lots on the property. Laster, an Atlanta, Georgia-area developer, has finished laying the groundwork for those eight lots, including building the 800-foot Tractor Road off Mechanicsville Road, sidewalks and street trees and a wastewater system.
The second part of the project, Phase 1B, proposes 17 housing units on 11 lots, including seven single-family homes, two duplexes, a triplex and conversion of one single-family home from the first phase to a two-unit dwelling. That single-family home will be develSee LASTER on page 10
Hinesburg is a small rural town with rolling hills, a few remaining dairy farms and longtime neighbors, but despite the community feel, crime has been steadily rising over the last three years and one infraction stands out among the rest. “It seems like every week there’s a stolen car or a car recovered or something going on that hasn’t traditionally gone on,” Hinesburg police chief Anthony Cambridge said. Over the weekend, five stolen cars were recovered in Hinesburg, including three at one location on Tyler Bridge Road, and three people were arrested for trespassing and stealing them. Last month, someone stole a 2006 Jayco RV from a driveway on Ledgewood Lane when the owner was home. That person was eventually arrested after the vehicle was found on North Road, and police discovered another stolen vehicle related to the original crime. In some cases, frustrated vehicle owners have set out on their own to recover their property before calling the police. One incident in November resulted in a vehicle pursuit and another ended with a brief standoff after police finally caught up to the carjacker. There have been 51 cases of
vehicles stolen or recovered in Hinesburg this year, according to Cambridge. Last year there were 12; in 2022 there were four and in 2021 there was only 1. Overall, crime rates in Hinesburg are also increasing. Officers have responded to 2,433 cases so far this year. There were 2,106 cases in 2023 and 1,566 cases in 2022. Cambridge said cases are not only rising but also becoming more severe. Gone are the days of proactive community policing, like helping with car lockouts or car seat installations. “Instead, we’re dealing with car thefts or, you know, we go to make a traffic stop and the car flees,” Cambridge said. “The cases are just becoming more intense.” During his 12 years with the Hinesburg Police Department, Cambridge has noticed spikes in crime, but it was always easy enough to get to the root of what was going on because the incidents were often related. In most cases, there would be a repeat offender or a notorious individual causing trouble, so the police would arrest that person, or they’d move on, and that crime spike would even out. “But we have no idea who See CRIME on page 10
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