Plea expected when Sharon resident appears in Bantam Superior Court

SHARON, Conn. — Raymond C. Sprague III, 28, of Sharon is expected to enter a plea at Bantam Superior Court on Nov. 3 following incidents on Sept. 26 that led to charges against him of assault in the second degree, assault in the third degree with minor injury or intent to cause injury, two counts of threatening in the second degree and disorderly conduct.

Sprague was arrested by the Connecticut State Police on Oct. 11. Following a two-state manhunt on Sept. 27 and 28, he had been arrested on Sept. 28 by New York State Police. 

The New York police had charged him with criminal mischief in the third degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, menacing in the second degree and criminal trespass in the second degree for a domestic disturbance in which he was allegedly involved on Sept. 3.

After the New York police released him, Sprague was taken to Troop L in Litchfield, where he posted $100,000 bond.

Blood and bruises

The charges against Sprague in Connecticut also stemmed from a domestic disturbance, this one on Monday, Sept. 26.

A neighbor of Sprague’s West Meadow Road home in Sharon had called 911 at about 8:15 p.m. to say “he heard an argument with dogs barking,” according to the state police arrest warrant, which was released on Oct. 12.

Two troopers arrived at the house and were confronted by a large pit bull that began to growl and bark at one of the troopers.  

The trooper used a baton and verbal commands to calm the dog down and get it to back away from him. He called to the other trooper to “be cautious with the very aggressive dog,” according to the police report. The other trooper was unable to get past the dog and enter the house.

When the first trooper, named Pelletier, was finally able to get into the house, he first heard voices and “it sounded like someone was in a panic.” 

He then found two women (whose names were not included in the arrest warrant and who are listed as Victim 1 and Victim 2) and a man named  Joseph Vinchiarello, 43.

The face of one of the women, known as Victim 2, was covered with blood and her clothing had been ripped.

“Victim 1 appeared to have suffered an injury to her forehead and eye,” Pelletier said in the police report. “Both areas were swollen and bruised.”

When asked who had assaulted her, Victim 1 said it was her ex-boyfriend, Raymond Sprague. She said he had been at the house and then left in his truck (a 2013 gray GMC pickup).  

Unregistered guns in house

While medical attention was sought for the two women, Vinchiarello, who was identified as their friend, was able to calm the pit bull and put it in a car so the police could search the house and property. 

The police report said that, “As you first enter the house, there were numerous pistol bullets scattered on the floor next to the bathroom.”

Several guns were also found in what appeared to be an extra bedroom on the first floor. A check by the state police showed that Sprague does not have a valid pistol permit; only one of the weapons in the house (a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle) is registered to him.

Vinchiarello was asked to make a statement but told the troopers that he was scared to because Sprague might retaliate. 

He did tell the troopers that “Sprague just went nuts and started attacking both girls.”

Threatening phone calls

The troopers then went to Sharon Hospital to interview the two women. 

Victim 2 gave a detailed account of what she remembered from that evening’s events. She said she and Victim 1 and Vinchiarello had been having dinner at Victim 1’s house in Millerton. 

During the meal, Victim 2 said, Sprague kept phoning Victim 1; the two had been dating and had broken up the week before. 

Victim 2 told police that she could hear Sprague “threatening Victim 1 and her family.” She said in her statement that Sprague said, “I am going to murder you and your whole family and that bitch” [referring to Victim 2].

Victim 2 said that Sprague kept calling and kept demanding that Victim 1 come to his home. She did not want to go, according to Victim 2, but eventually the trio decided to go to West Meadow Road because Vinchiarello had left his car at Sprague’s house and wanted to get it so he could go home.

‘Get her, get her’

In her statement to the police, Victim 2 said that when they arrived at Sprague’s house, he reached into the car and started punching Victim 1. Victim 2 said she grabbed a rake and used it to try and get him off her friend. At that point, Victim 2 said, Sprague’s Rottweiler began to attack her. 

She told police that the dog  “bit my left foot and began dragging me into the woods” and then “started biting me all over my body.…I thought the dog was going to kill me. While the dog was attacking me, Raymond came over to me and started pulling my hair. I could hear Raymond saying, ‘Get her, get her.’”

Victim 2 said that Vinchiarello pulled Sprague away from her but the dog kept biting her. Eventually, according to her statement, Sprague called off the dog and got in his pickup truck with it and drove away.

Charges had been filed against Sprague in May for two counts of possessing a vicious/barking dog, two counts of permitting a dog to roam at large and two counts of failure to comply with dog ownership requirements. He is expected to appear on those charges at Bantam court on Oct. 25.

Pulling hair and punching

The statement from Victim 1 was briefer and stated simply that she, Vinchiarello and Victim 2 were having dinner at her house and then went to Sprague’s home. 

She said that when they arrived at the house, Sprague came out and began pulling her hair and punching her; that he then appeared to attack her friend, although she was in the car and didn’t have a clear view of what was happening; and that Sprague got in his car and drove away.

The state police returned to Sprague’s residence the following morning, Tuesday, Sept. 27, with an arrest warrant. They surrounded the house but at some point Sprague apparently slipped out of the building. It is believed that he left on foot and walked away, with his Rottweiler. 

The search for him continued in New York and Connecticut through that day and the following day. 

Sprague was arrested at a residence in Millerton on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 28, without incident. He was taken into custody by the New York State Police and appeared at a Dutchess County Court on the charges filed against him earlier in September. 

The Connecticut State Police then picked him up in New York and brought him to Troop L in Litchfield, where he was charged with assault in the second degree, assault in the third degree with minor injury or intent to cause injury, two counts of threatening in the second degree and disorderly conduct. 

A more detailed version of this article was published online at www.tricornernews.com on Oct. 13.