BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A New Hampshire man is accused of stalking an upstate New York woman by using his small plane, which he had been flying out of a southern Vermont airport.
Michael Arnold, 65, made an initial appearance in court Wednesday in Bennington, Vermont. He was arrested Tuesday as he was driving into the William H. Morse State Airport in town. Police said his single-engine Cessna 180 was at the airport and he had been flying from there.
Arnold was charged Tuesday with aggravated stalking, impeding, false information to a police officer, and resisting arrest, Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette said in a news release. He posted $5,000 bail.
Arnold, of Manchester, New Hampshire, had been served with a temporary order of protection from a court in Saratoga, New York, in May. A specific condition of that order was that he “cease and desist from flying any and all aircraft while the order remains in effect,” Doucette said.
Police were notified by the FBI in Albany that New York authorities had been investigating Arnold on suspicion of stalking the woman in Schuylerville, for several years, Doucette said. Schuylerville is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of the Bennington airport.
“Officers were able to determine that Arnold was in fact flying his airplane from the William H. Morse State Airport and last seen flying west toward New York several days earlier,” Doucette said.
Arnold has been accused in the past of flying his plane too low over a residential area. Authorities did not go into detail on Wednesday about how they say Arnold was stalking the woman by plane.
Arnold’s first court appearance was brief, as he told the judge he would like to invoke the “24-hour rule” that gives him an extra day to consider what plea to enter and to hire an attorney. He spoke only to address the judge and was due back in court Thursday.
Arnold told television reporters before his court appearance that he had “not had any contact” with the woman he is accused of stalking.