EAST RANDOLPH — Police have charged a man with ties to the White River Valley in a string of property crimes that ended Friday evening with his arrest in East Randolph after he’d stolen a septic truck, police said. A woman who police said joined in the commission of those crimes remains at large.

Kevin Allen Bent, 32, and Amanda L. Conant, 30, broke into homes in several Vermont towns between May 10 and 21, police said in a news release. Before those events, both Bent and Conant had active arrest warrants issued in mid-April for failing to appear in court on prior charges.

Bent pleaded not guilty Monday in Vermont Superior Court in Windham County to a total of eight charges in courts in Orange, Windsor and Addison counties, including burglary, possession of stolen property, petit larceny, grand larceny, aggravated operating without owner’s consent and resisting arrest. He was held in Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield for lack of $2,500 bail. Judge Michael Kainen also ordered Bent not to have contact with Conant.

“In terms of the judicial process, it’s important that they are not talking,” Kainen said.

Bent is from Randolph and his family, including his mother, still lives there, though police considered him and Conant to be homeless. But Kainen said he imposed bail in the case because the “three-county crime spree” of the past two weeks suggests the state has good cause to believe Bent would either flee or fail to appear for subsequent court dates.

Court documents give the following account:

Vermont State Police investigated a May 10 burglary in Pomfret during which a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee was stolen. A day later, the vehicle and two occupants, whom police later identified as Bent and Conant, were captured on the home security system of a residence in Granville, Vt., an Addison County town in the far eastern reaches of the White River Valley.

Police also investigated a burglary from a home in Barnard after finding items missing from that home in the Jeep.

The immediate events leading up to Bent’s arrest began at around 9:30 p.m. last Thursday, when police were called to Mill Branch Market and Deli in East Randolph to investigate three people outside the store who appeared to be impaired.

Upon arrival, police spotted the Jeep. Most of the vehicle had been spray-painted red, while the tailgate was spray-painted black, and the vehicle wore different license plates. Also, the Jeep’s catalytic converter had been removed and “Bonnie & Clyde 2021” had been painted on the hood.

The two occupants of the vehicle, Conant and Bent, were asleep. Police woke them up and ordered them out of the Jeep. After a few moments, Conant started the vehicle and drove off at a high rate of speed, police said.

After a search of the area, police found the vehicle at around 11:30 p.m. off Bicknell Hill Road in Chelsea, where the Jeep got bogged down in the mud and Bent and Conant fled on foot.

Police apprehended Bent after someone in East Randolph called Silloway’s Septic Service, on East Randolph Road in Chelsea, to report that a company truck was parked in East Randolph.

The company reported the truck stolen and when police responded, they found Bent in the East Randolph Baptist Church.

A witness saw Bent get out of the truck and walk off.

In Monday’s hearing, Bent’s attorney, Daniel Stevens, objected to the state’s request for $10,000 bail, but the three prosecutors said a significant bail amount was warranted to ensure Bent would not flee. He has had three prior incidents where he failed to appear for court hearings, although those were in 2012, six probation violations and 13 prior misdemeanor charges in the three counties, prosecutors said.

“It’s actually quite a relief to get this off my shoulders right now, not to be looking over my shoulder,” Bent said during the hearing, which was conducted by video conference.

After the $2,500 bail was set he asked, “How much do I need to post?”

“Two hundred and fifty,” Stevens said.

The Vermont State Police is asking for the public’s assistance to find Amanda Conant. Call 802-234-9933.

Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.

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