NEWPORT, Vt. -
The man accused of crushing seven squad cars with a tractor was in court to face the consequences Friday.
34 year old Roger Pion could be facing up to 68 years in prison for causing all of the damage. Friends of Pion who were in the courtroom say he did it out of revenge. Pion had some encounters with the law recently, but the penalties he was facing were far less severe than what he's looking at now.
Eleven felonies, three misdemeanors, and the possibility of spending a very long time behind bars. 34 year old Roger Pion is accused of crushing cruisers. Seven Orleans County Sheriff squad cars and one van that was used to transport inmates.
"Still shock and awe," Orleans County Sheriff Kirk Martin said.
Pion walked into the Newport courtroom Friday thin and shackled, then sat down with his head hung low. He won't make a plea until Tuesday though. That's because his lawyer wants more time to look at the facts. His goal is to get the aggravated assault charge dropped.
"Out of all of the counts that are set forth in the state's information, the aggravated assault charge is the least supported by the evidence," Pion's attorney David Sleigh said.
The farmer has had several run-ins with the law. The most recent, a misdemeanor for possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. Newport City Police handled that case, but it was the Sheriff's Department who Pion targeted. That department hasn't dealt with him for five years.
"Do you think he mixed up the agencies and thought it was you guys?" I asked. "Whether it was revenge on what he thought might have been the arresting officers for his last involvement, I don't know," Sheriff Martin said.
Pion turned the fully functioning squad cars into a salvage yard Thursday. Friday, they had been covered with a tarp.
They're planning to use the jaws of life to get into the trunk and passenger side of the cars to see if any of the equipment is salvageable.
"Laptop, it's crushed in one cruiser now we don't even have access to, we have some equipment in the trunks we can't get to," Sheriff Martin said.
As for the cars themselves, insurance will pay for new ones, but the estimated quarter of a million dollars in damages is likely to come out of tax payer pockets as well. The Sheriff says safety isn't a concern, all hands are still on deck and outside agencies are lending the department cars.
