BARRE — A St. Johnsbury man is accused of stealing a gun and sunglasses from a vehicle in the Granite City.
John W. Schumann, 41, pleaded not guilty by video Thursday in Washington County criminal court in Barre to a felony count of grand larceny and misdemeanor counts of possession of stolen property, giving false information to law enforcement, retail theft and two misdemeanor counts of violating conditions of release.
If convicted, Schumann faces a maximum sentence of 13 years and six months in prison.
He is currently housed at Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury on a furlough hold. Court records show Schumann has multiple open dockets in Caledonia County criminal court, including felony counts of burglary, grand larceny and fentanyl trafficking. His attorney at Thursday’s arraignment, Andrew Pappone, reported Schumann is currently serving a sentence on a burglary conviction and Pappone has been told Schumann will remain incarcerated on the furlough hold until his open dockets are settled.
For the grand larceny charge in Washington County, on July 26 police received a report stating a gun and multiple pairs of sunglasses were stolen from a vehicle in Barre City overnight, according to court records. The gun, a .45 caliber handgun, was valued at a bit under $900. Police said the four pairs of sunglasses, all Oakley brand, were valued at $800 total.
Officer Michael Reale, of the Barre City police, said in his affidavit a witness flagged him down on July 26 and reported drug activity was taking place behind the Cumberland Farms on North Main Street. Reale said he checked behind the convenience store and found five people.
He said he and another officer recognized four of the people located there, but investigators weren’t familiar with the fifth, who gave police the name of “John Johnson.” Reale noted police had been sent a surveillance photo which showed a man recently entering a vehicle and stealing items. He said this man found behind the store looked like the man in the photo.
Reale said the man, later identified as Schumann, declined to let police search his backpack.
Reale said none of the five people found behind the store had any in-state arrest warrants and were allowed to leave. He said two of the people in the group later told police they believed Schumann had a gun.
Schumann told police he was staying with someone on Keith Avenue, according to court records, and while investigating who he was staying with, police discovered his name was actually John Schumann and his picture in the system matched the person police found behind the store.
Reale said he later located Schumann walking on North Main Street. He said Schumann was detained and admitted he gave police a fake name because he was scared.
Reale said Schumann’s backpack was seized as part of the investigation into the stolen gun, but Schumann was allowed to leave. He said the backpack appeared to be the same one seen on Schumann in the surveillance footage.
Reale said he obtained a search warrant for the bag and found two pairs of Oakley sunglasses that appeared to be the same ones stolen from the vehicle. He said he also found drug paraphernalia in the backpack. It does not appear from court records that police have retrieved the gun that was stolen.
For the retail theft charge, police said Schumann stole clothing from T.J. Maxx in Berlin on Aug. 16. Police said he again gave police a fake name after taking $50.62 worth of items from the store.
