COLCHESTER, VT – The local police department arrested a 44-year-old man as a fugitive from justice Monday, after the Franklin County Sheriff Department obtained a warrant for his arrest on a charge of gross sexual assault.
Police say that James P. Bezio, 44, of Colchester, Vermont, committed the crime of gross sexual assault, a Class A felony, in October 2008 in Wyman Township.
Lt. Niles Yeaton said that Det. David St. Laurent began an investigation into the matter after a woman came forward last week, alleging that she had been sexually assaulted in October 2008. The woman, who was an adult at the time of the alleged incident, identified Bezio as the assailant and said she had known him from a previous relationship.
After what Yeaton termed a “pretty short investigation,” St. Laurent obtained an arrest warrant on the gross sexual assault charge. Yeaton and St. Laurent travelled to Colchester, which is just north of Burlington, yesterday to interview Bezio, and the Colchester Police Department then arrested Bezio on a fugitive of justice charge.
Later that afternoon, Bezio appeared before a district court judge in Vermont on the fugitive charge and was held on surety, bond or cash in the amount of $5,000. As part of that bail, the judge ordered that if and when Bezio is released on a bond that he report to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department the next day. Assumedly, the sheriff’s department would then arrest and hold him on the gross sexual assault.
Yeaton said that if Bezio either couldn’t or wouldn’t make bail an extradition proceeding would be required to transfer him to Franklin County. If Bezio chose not to waive his extradition rights, the department would be required to seek a Governor’s Warrant to compel the transport.
However, Yeaton said he hoped and expected that Bezio would make bail today and would report to Franklin County Wednesday.
