PAWLET, Vt. (WCAX) – The owner of a former West Pawlet paramilitary training facility charged with repeatedly defying court orders to remove unpermitted structures on his land, is due in court Thursday afternoon, and he faces new charges after attacking a local constable during his arrest Wednesday.
After nearly four months on the lam from an Environmental Court order, police on Wednesday arrested Daniel Banyai, 50, after a traffic stop in Pawlet. According to court records, Banyai was a passenger in a pickup pulled over for speeding on Route 133. Town Constable Thomas Covino told police in an affidavit that he noticed Banyai in the car and asked him to get out. After repeatedly refusing to comply and calling the constable “a dirty cop,” Covino says he used pepper spray and the two got into a “scuffle.”
Following his arrest, Banyai was taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center for evaluation before finally being moved to the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility. He’s now facing new charges of aggravated assault on a protected person and resisting arrest.
The arrest comes after nearly three years of legal wrangling with the town and neighbors over alleged threats and unpermitted structures on his property. An Environmental Court judge ruled in November — and the Vermont Supreme Court agreed — that Banyai was in contempt of court. He was ordered to turn himself in on December 22 but failed to comply.
In addition to not complying with taking down the unpermitted structures, Banyai continues to accrue thousands of dollars in fines.
Banyai’s attorney did not immediately return a phone call from the AP seeking comment on Wednesday.
In response to Slate Ridge, a bill was passed in the Legislature making it a crime to own or operate paramilitary training camps in the state. Gov. Phil Scott signed it into law in May.
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