Police are still looking for Harley Breer, who’s notorious in central Vermont, five days after he cut his ankle monitor and fled house arrest.
The 51-year-old is accused of assaulting a neighbor on Folsom Hill Road on Friday evening before taking off.
Breer has a long criminal history, including convictions for kidnapping, domestic assault and other violent crimes. He was on furlough under Department of Corrections supervision before he removed his ankle monitor.
There is an active warrant for Breer’s arrest on charges of first-degree aggravated domestic assault and resisting arrest, according to Vermont State Police, with bail set at $100,000.
“There’s no single defendant, at least in Washington County, that presents a more complex and challenging supervisory and case history than Harley Breer,” Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault said.
Breer has been in and out of prison for the past several decades on a variety of charges, most recently with an 18-month stint behind bars.
Thibault said Breer’s current house arrest came after he was charged with second-degree aggravated domestic assault. Resolving the case, Thibault said, became a balance between inconsistencies in statements from alleged victims and the knowledge that the existing supervisory structure for Breer “just wasn’t getting the job done.”
As a result, Breer secured an earlier release than he would have if he had just been placed on probation, but the state was also able to achieve the highest level of supervision possible for Breer outside of prison, in the form of home confinement with an ankle monitor.
Thibault said it was “the best tradeoff” the state could have made under the circumstances, because this way, the maximum penalty for Breer is a life sentence of Department of Corrections supervision — instead of a much shorter period that might have followed an initial imprisonment.
Over the past several decades, every time Breer is in court, he files a mountain of appeals, Thibault said. In a 2011 case against him, Breer filed two appeals to the Supreme Court and about 350 other motions challenging his conviction.
“If he were to succeed in any of those claims, it could potentially undermine the entire structure of his supervision,” Thibault said. “This is not an average offender, so it’s not an average plea agreement, especially considering how many different historical dockets and convictions come into play.”
Thibault said the standard in a criminal case requires proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He said in Breer’s cases, that’s often been tricky, as most of the incidents have lacked witnesses, and several victims have been unwilling to go through the emotional toll of a trial.
The state’s attorney said cutting ankle monitors is actually a fairly common practice among parolees, though he said it’s much less common for someone on home confinement like Breer was. However, Thibault said Breer also has a network of friends and family who may be helping him.
“While danger is always a difficult concept to quantify, what I can say is whatever danger he poses to the community is amplified by family members and friends willing to aid and assist him,” Thibault said. “Whatever good they think they’re doing by helping him is quite the opposite. Each day he remains unaccounted for and unaccountable is another day to his detriment in court, and likewise, the individuals who are helping him stay on the run are exposing themselves to significant legal jeopardy.”
Thiabault said Breer has been a problem in Washington County for the five years that he’s been the state’s attorney and for the 25 years before that. Thibault lives in Cabot, which neighbors Marshfield, and he said he’s seen the Breer effect firsthand.
“I know friends and neighbors who are scared and locking their doors and are tired of having to worry about one individual,” he said. “To that end, I want people to understand that Vermont State Police are doing an outstanding job in conjunction with the (corrections department) to apprehend Mr. Breer, and ultimately we have a lot to be thankful for in terms of public safety.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Marshfield man still on the run; police continue their search.