Two individuals were arraigned in Bennington Monday morning on grand larceny and other charges after two local cannabis farm owners set up a sting operation, with the help of the Bennington Police Department, to get their plants back.
Both Christopher Gibbons, 31, and Matthew Peles, 32, were arraigned on three counts each — grand larceny, unlawful mischief, and unlawful trespass — after the duo allegedly hopped a security fence to steal cannabis plants from a local farm on Vail Road in Bennington.
According to a police affidavit, Bennington police were dispatched to 744 Vail Road at about 8 p.m. on September 28 for a report of two people cutting cannabis plants from a cannabis farm. One of the two owners stated that when he woke from a nap, he observed two individuals on their security camera system who had jumped the fence and began cutting cannabis plants before fleeing.
Owners Zachary Lake of Terpslurfer Farms and Jesse Cooke of Vail Farm Cannabis, separate businesses operating at the same Vail Road location in Bennington, immediately called police who noted that the security fence around the farm was damaged in the area where the two jumped over to cut dozens of plants. Police also located two discarded pairs of scissors in the same area as the damage.
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