NORTH TROY — Vermont State Police have arrested a Derby Line man in connection with the theft of an ATM from a closed Newport Center restaurant and the subsequent arson of a stolen truck and cattle trailer in North Troy.
Travis Columbia, 46, was arrested today following an investigation into the incidents that occurred back in May of 2023. He faces charges of burglary, grand larceny, aggravated operating without owner’s consent, unlawful mischief, and arson.
The investigation began when state police were alerted to a break-in at a closed restaurant located at 1688 VT Route 105 in Newport Center at approximately 1:00 a.m. on May 28, 2023. A short time later, police were notified of a truck and cattle trailer engulfed in flames on River Road in North Troy.
Further investigation revealed that a 2011 Ford F-550 and attached gooseneck cattle trailer had been stolen from Chaput’s Family Farm in the late hours of May 27. The stolen vehicles were then driven to the closed restaurant, where the suspect forcefully entered the building and stole an ATM.
The truck and trailer were subsequently driven to River Road in Troy, where the truck and the ATM inside the cattle trailer were set on fire.
The North Troy Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire.
Columbia was processed at the Vermont State Police Derby Barracks and released with a citation to appear in the Criminal Division of the Vermont Superior Court in Newport on Tuesday, April 30.
Authorities are asking anyone with information who has not yet spoken to state police to contact Sgt. Joshua Mikkola at 802-334-8881.
