BRATTLEBORO — A Brattleboro man who was convicted final 12 months of drunk driving, fourth offense, whereas driving an electric scooter, was sentenced final week to 9 days in jail.
Theodore Colehamer, 47, was sentenced to 12 to 18 months, with all of it suspended however 9 days. He will probably be on probation for 12 months.
Colehamer was driving an electric scooter on the time of the April 2019 incident on Main Street in Brattleboro. An hour and a half after he was was first stopped by police, his blood alcohol content material was .10, based on courtroom paperwork. He was convicted final 12 months after a two day trial.
His lawyer, Dan Stevens of the Windham County public defender’s workplace, known as witnesses to the stand Friday afternoon to attempt to persuade Windham Superior Court Judge Michael Kainen to offer Colehamer a suspended sentence.
But whereas the witnesses gave accounts of the great deeds Colehamer recurrently carried out — serving to a handicapped man, in addition to native Afghan refugees and neighborhood youngsters — his file, with quite a few drunk driving convictions in Vermont and New York, and the obligatory minimal sentence of a fourth conviction, tipped the steadiness.
Colehamer informed the choose he believed the motorized scooter was “a child’s toy,” and stated that night he was “trying to get rid of it” by taking it to a pal’s home.
“It’s a little kids’ toy,” he stated, noting it wasn’t applicable for somebody of his dimension.
“The last three and a half years, it’s been killing me,” he stated. “I just want it to be over. Today’s not the end of it.”
Stevens had requested the choose to remain the sentence, since so many individuals depended on Colehamer in his neighborhood.
He famous that the Vermont Legislature has since modified the definition of what constitutes a motorized scooter, and beneath the brand new definition, Colehamer would not have been violating the regulation.
But Windham County Deputy State’s Attorney Steve Brown stated that drunk driving is a critical offense, and had the potential to create havoc. Colehamer had acquired a three-to-five 12 months sentence for his third drunk driving conviction in 2004. His different convictions in Vermont have been in 1997 and 2000, with one other in New York state.
Kainen ordered Colehamer to make plans to cowl his duties for the 9 days he will probably be in jail.
“Good luck to you sir,” Kainen stated, and he thanked Stevens for bringing the witnesses.
Contact Susan Smallheer at ssmallheer@reformer.com.