BARRE — A Johnson man was arrested and arraigned Friday on charges related to the January armed robbery of a bank in Montpelier that led to a high-profile police shooting that left another suspect dead.
Police at the local, state and federal levels teamed up to track down Joshua Preston, 29, who had evaded arrest for four months.
Preston pleaded not guilty to a charge of accessory to an armed robbery in Washington County criminal court in Barre on Friday afternoon. He also pleaded not guilty to a charge of escape, for allegedly fleeing the Burlington residence where the Vermont Department of Corrections had approved for him to live.
Prosecutors accuse Preston of providing transportation to Nathan Giffin, 32, of Essex, who police say carried out an armed robbery on the Vermont State Employees Credit Union on Jan. 16.
Giffin was shot and killed by police following a nearly hour-long standoff on the grounds of Montpelier High School, where he fled after allegedly committing the crime.
Nine officers opened fire at Giffin, who was armed with what was was later identified as a BB gun styled to look like a Glock.
After investigating the incident, the Vermont’s Attorney General’s Office determined in April that the shooting was justified and that officers would not face charges. However, the shooting was one of a series of similar incidents that sparked a review of police shootings in the state, and the protocols for dealing with them.
On the day of the robbery, a Montpelier police officer saw Preston in a park and ride “which was believed to be the destination and route taken by Mr. Giffin as he left the scene of the armed robbery,” Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault said on Friday.
The park and ride was about half a mile from the robbery, according to Thibault.
Thibault said data from Preston’s cellphone also showed him traveling northbound on I-89 shortly after the robbery.
Investigators also found that the night before the crime, Giffin and Preston had left the Burlington residence at which he was sanctioned to live by the Department of Corrections, according to Thibault.
“They were believed to be together,” Thibault said in an interview.
Thibault said that at the time of the robbery, Preston was serving time for a 2014 burglary conviction, but was living outside of jail on furlough.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Preston on the accessory charge in mid-April. He had been wanted on the escape charge since January.
Preston had been staying at a sobriety home in Burlington, according to the charging affidavit written by Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Aimee Nolan before the robbery.
The owner of the home told police he was going to evict Preston for using drugs, according to the affidavit. It adds that Giffin’s girlfriend told police that Giffin and Preston had been kicked out of the home on Jan. 15 and that Giffin owed Preston “money for a drug debt.”
In the months after the shooting, authorities struggled to locate Preston, and as of April 12 “all attempts to locate Preston have been unsuccessful,” the affidavit said.
Through a joint investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Barre Police Department, Vermont State Police and the Northern Vermont Drug Task Force, authorities were able to locate and arrest Preston at an apartment in Barre City Friday morning, Thibault said.
As of Friday, Preston was being held on $15,000 cash bail for the escape charge, and $50,000 cash bail for the accessory charge.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Johnson man charged as accomplice in Montpelier armed robbery.