RUTLAND — A former Rutland man accused of stealing a Vermont State Police cruiser has reached a plea deal to resolve at least one of the charges against him stemming from the theft.
Timothy Gabriel, 30, pleaded guilty last week in Rutland County Superior criminal court to a felony charge of aggravated operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent.
The charge involved the theft of Vermont State Police Cpl. Christopher Loyzelle’s fully marked 2021 Ford SUV, which was taken from outside Loyzelle’s home in Rutland on Oct. 17, 2023, according to charging documents.
He was sentenced as part of a plea deal with Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan, the prosecutor, to one to five years in prison.
Gabriel is also currently awaiting sentencing on a federal charge after pleading guilty to a felony count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in connection with the theft of a rifle from inside the cruiser.
That sentencing hearing is set for March, according to court filings.
Gabriel was arrested in Burlington a day after the theft of the cruiser in Rutland.
The cruiser was located later on the morning of the theft not far away behind a downtown Rutland business. However, a patrol rifle that had been in the vehicle was missing. The firearm was found two days after the cruiser theft at a pull-off on Route 7 in Arlington, according to court filings.
Adam Silverman, a state police spokesperson, stated Tuesday in an email in response to questions about the cruiser theft that there was a key inside the vehicle, but the vehicle was locked properly from the outside.
“Investigation later determined there was a faulty locking mechanism with one of the rear doors, allowing it to be opened from the outside,” Silverman wrote. “The patrol rifle was properly secured in the rack, and the offender destroyed the rack in order to forcibly remove the rifle.”
Gabriel has multiple prior felony convictions, including a January 2020 conviction for assault and robbery. He also had prior grand larceny convictions, court records stated.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Former Rutland man reaches plea deal in Vermont State Police cruiser theft case .