Full Notification

Winhall Police & Rescue Press Release.

On December 17th, 2011 the Winhall Police Department received several complaints relating to the theft of skis and other related equipment from the area of the Stratton Mountain Resort Base Lodge.

With the assistance of the management team at the Stratton Mountain Resort, a person of interest was identified and confronted by a Stratton employee while holding a set of skis that he was suspected of stealing. The victim of the recent theft was in the area at the time the suspect was confronted and confirmed the skis as being his that had been stolen earlier in the day.

After an investigation conducted by Officer Wright and Sgt. Crowe, 38 year old Steven M. Plotkin of Croton on the Hudson, New York was arrested for possessing stolen property and grand larceny. After searching the area for several hours, the Winhall Police Department Officers were able to locate the vehicle driven by Mr. Plotkin, a 2008 Mercedes Benz ML350. Sgt Crowe and Officer Lackey seized the vehicle.

On Sunday, December 18th, 2011, a search warrant was obtained by Sgt. Crowe and executed on the vehicle. As a result of the search of the vehicle, several pairs of stolen skis and other ski equipment were recovered from the Plotkin vehicle.

Mr. Plotkin has been identified as a possible person of interest in several other ski thefts in the past two weeks and the investigation into those thefts is ongoing with several additional felony counts pending. Mr. Plotkin was lodged at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, VT for lack of $50,000.00 bail.

On Monday December 19th, 2011, Mr. Plotkin was arraigned in Vermont District Court, Brattleboro, to answer a charge of Felony Grand Larceny and pled not guilty. Mr. Plotkin was released on $25,000.00 bail with several conditions.

Anyone with information relating to the theft of skis, snowboards and equipment in the Winhall Stratton area are asked to contact the Winhall Police Department at 802-297-2121.