Four charged with BB shooting spree

By NATHAN LAMB | Milton Independent Staff Writer
miltonreporter@yahoo.com

Four local residents are facing felony charges in connection with a spree of BB gun assaults and vandalism that yielded at least 41 complaints and $16,500 worth of damage, according to Milton Police.

Timothy “TJ” Geraw, 22, was arrested and charged on Nov. 1 with felony unlawful mischief, aggravated assault, and giving a false report to police, said Detective Corporal Paul Locke.

Randy Katon Jr. (19) and Jessica Talcott (18) were both charged with being accessories to felony unlawful mischief and aggravated assault, and giving a false police report. An unnamed 16-year-old is facing those charges as well.

Confessions were secured from at least part of the group after the arrests, but the interviews did not produce a motive, said Locke.

“A couple of them were quoted saying they had nothing better to do,” he said. “Another said he was on crack cocaine and that it was fun.”

The group was charged for both targeting pedestrians and vandalizing people’s property. Overall, Milton Police received 33 such complaints from Sept 23-30.

The crimes started in Milton, but were subsequently expanded to include Essex, St. Albans, Georgia, Fairfax, Grand Isle, and Colchester, said Locke. He reported knowledge of 40 to 50 instances across the region where people, animals, houses, and vehicles—both parked and moving—were targeted.

Timothy Geraw	Randy Katon	Jessica Talcott

The assault charge against Geraw is from a specific instance where a pedestrian reported being shot-at several times while walking home on Barnum Street.

The youths also confessed to targeting pedestrians on both East and North Roads in Milton, and police are still looking for those victims, said Locke.

“Hopefully when people see this, they’ll call up,” he said.

The false police report charge came after the youths allegedly shot their own vehicle and reported it to police, so they would look like victims of the spree as well, said Locke.

The arrests came after a month-long investigation. Locke did not cite a specific break in the case, but said interviews, investigations, and a lot of hard work resulted in the arrests.

“Since Sept. 23, I’ve done nothing but this case,” he said. “It’s been straight-out 12 hour days; I guess you could say it was good old fashioned police work.”

Geraw has a previous record and was on probation when the shooting occurred, said Locke. Because of that, he’s been detained at the Chittenden County Correctional Facility. The others were charged and released.

The group will be arraigned on Nov. 8.

Felony unlawful mischief (resulting in damage over $1,000) carries a punishment of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Aggravated assault carries punishments of up to15 years in prison, or a fine of up to $10,000. Filing a false police report carries a punishment of up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $500.

Overall, Locke termed the case unusual and cause for concern on multiple levels.

“They did a lot of damage—that’s a lot of money for people to hand out just for somebody’s entertainment purposes,” he said.

“It’s severe when you start shooting at people with guns,” he said at another point. “We don’t take that lightly; one of them said they were on crack. What’s next?”