ST. ALBANS, Vt. (WCAX) – St. Albans officials are scrambling to crack down on public safety after a series of concerning incidents.
Police say over the weekend, officers arrested two suspects for burglary after responding to a suspicious incident at the store From Scratch.
Nathan Robtoy, 36, and Tony Brace, 44, now face multiple charges, including burglary and resisting arrest.
Officials say as a group of repeat offenders struggling with addiction wreaks havoc on the city, leaders are working to create policies to stop them.
One such policy would prevent landlords from renting to known drug dealers.
“There is an awful lot of landlords who have built a business renting to drug dealers and addicts. So long as the checks keep coming, they don’t care. That’s our job as a municipality is to tilt that playing field. Force the landlords to have their accountability moment. Saying look, if that’s your business model, you’re not going to do it here,” St. Albans City Manager Dominic Cloud said.
City leaders report they have now brought on a full-time detective — to track down cases associated with drugs in the city.