GOSHEN — Police are searching for a larceny suspect after six to 10 large Rubbermaid totes and several metal weights were stolen from the historic Williams-Boltwood House on Williams Drive.
The suspect was seen on security camera footage at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Video shows a thin, middle-aged male with short hair wearing a sleeveless red Hollister T-shirt and plaid shorts on the property, looking under a tarp and trying to get into the property’s barn.
After a half-hour, the man walked off with totes and metal weights used to hold down a tarp that were protecting items, including the totes the suspect walked away with.
In surveillance video, the suspect’s black pickup truck with a cap can be seen in the background. Bob Labrie, a board member and treasurer of the Williams-Boltwood restoration project, said the cap is distinctive because it features two sliding side windows and an additional set of vertical rear windows.
While no money or anything of extensive value was taken, video footage also shows the suspect attempting to find money in a cash box on the front door step where donations are placed. Thankfully, said Labrie, money had been removed a half-hour before the suspect was on the property.
Over the weekend there was a tag-sale fundraiser for the restoration project, and all remaining items were put by the curb and posted as free, said Labrie. Since there were many people stopping by to look at items by the street, he at first “thought nothing of it,” when he was notified via phone of a person on the property.
That is when Labrie noticed the man going through things that were marked, “Private — Keep Out.” By the time Labrie got in his car to confront the man, the suspect had already taken off, heading north on Route 112.
Labrie and Kam Oborne, co-director of the Williams-Boltwood Project, noted that valuable antiques on the property are stored off-site and that cameras notify them when cars, people or animals are on the property.
“Thankfully we installed a video security system last year,” said Oborne, noting that the clear visuals should make it easy to find the suspect.
“It recorded this guy and his vehicle, showing him riffling through the cash box, checking the doors to our barn, and taking items out from under a tarp in the back yard marked “Private, Keep Out,” Oborne said.
The run-down 18th century Williams-Boltwood House has been undergoing extensive restoration for multiple years and is being done exclusively by fundraising and volunteer work. The structure had been used as the town’s tavern, inn, and post office, making it a historical landmark in town.
Labrie said the project has been going smoothly with the help of donors, volunteers, and $80,000 recently awarded to the project during annual Town Meeting. But he feels the disrespectful and bizarre behavior of the suspect to be somewhat demoralizing.
“This is the kind of stuff that takes the wind out of your sails,” said Labrie. “All we want is our stuff back. We’re a charity. We are fortunate that we can rely on an army of supporters and volunteers on a day-by-day basis to help us get by. This guy didn’t just steal from us, he stole from our community.”
Anyone with information can contact the Goshen Police Department at 413-268-3116 or contact the 24/7 Dispatch Center in Northampton at 413-586-1508.
