Bizarre Case Transpiring in Vermont Court

A New Hampshire pilot has been accused of stalking an upstate New York woman by means of a 1976-vintage Cessna 180 Skywagon purportedly registered to him and based at southwestern Vermont’s William H. Morse State Airport (DDH).

Details pertaining to how, precisely, Arnold aerially stalked the woman have yet to be made public.

Michael Arnold, 65, a resident of Manchester, New Hampshire, made an initial appearance in a Bennington, Vermont court on Wednesday, 04 October 2023.

In a press release, Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette disclosed Arnold had been arrested on Tuesday, 03 October while driving into the William H. Morse State Airport, and charged, subsequently, with aggravated stalking, impeding, false information to a police officer, and resisting arrest. Arnold posted bail in the amount of $5,000.

Chief Doucette reported, also, that a Saratoga, New York court had previously served Arnold with a temporary order of protection specifying he “cease and desist from flying any and all aircraft while the order remains in effect.”

Bennington Police were notified by personnel of the FBI’s Albany, New York office that New York State authorities were actively engaged in investigating Arnold on suspicion of protractedly stalking the aforementioned woman in Schuylerville—a village in east-central New York’s Saratoga County. According to the FBI, Arnold had stalked the woman for a period of time measurable in years—an allegation lent credence by the fact Schuylerville lies some 26-nautical-miles northwest of DDH—a quick trip by air.

Court documents contain records of the woman having informed police she’d long feared for her safety and harbored worries Arnold—who’d been a customer of a café she owns—would one day fly his aircraft into her home.

Chief Doucette set forth: “Officers were able to determine that Arnold was, in fact, flying his airplane from the William H. Morse State Airport and last seen flying west toward New York several days earlier.”

In addition to current and past allegations of stalking, Arnold’s record chronicles him formerly and repeatedly operating his aircraft at illegally-low altitudes over residential areas in Schuylerville—going so far as to hurl tomatoes from his airplane at targets on the ground.

Arnold, according to an affidavit, contends he’s received no documentation from the FAA forbidding him to operate his aircraft—which he claims he flies over Schuylerville only to take photos for the town’s Facebook community page.

During his 04 October court appearance, Arnold spoke briefly and only to the presiding judge, whom he informed of his desire to invoke the so-called 24-hour rule for purpose of affording himself an extra day to consider the plea he wished to enter and to secure counsel.

Prior to his court appearance, however, Arnold told television reporters he’d “not had any contact” with the woman he’s accused of stalking.

On 05 October, Arnold was arraigned on charges of aggravated stalking, violating an abuse prevention order, resisting arrest, impeding a public officer, and providing false information to police. He was released on several conditions, including his having no contact with the woman, not stalking her, and remaining three-hundred-feet from her home, her business, and all aircraft.

FMI: https://benningtonvt.org/