we need to ban bats, they’re being used to assault the criminals civil rights!

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“Assault Bats” in Hubbardton, VT
Date: Mar 23, 2004 12:29 PM
By ALAN J. KEAYS Herald Staff

A 73-year-old clerk in Hubbardton struck back at an alleged robber Sunday night, hitting the would-be bandit in the head with a bat and holding her down until police arrived.

Vermont State Police said Krista Desorcie, 27, of Hinesburg went into The Pumpkin Patch store on Route 30 around 8 p.m. She allegedly pointed a finger through her shirt as if she had a gun and demanded the clerk turn over all the money.

Dale Bittner, 73, was working behind the counter and told her there was no way he would give her any money, according to court records. He told police he grabbed Desorcie to get what he thought was a gun away from her and she tried to hit him with her free hand.

Bittner said that’s when he swung a small wooden bat and struck Desorcie twice in the head, Trooper Christopher Barber wrote in an affidavit. The two struggled to the ground and Desorcie grabbed a magazine rack and pushed it down on Bittner, the trooper wrote.

“She said ‘Be careful, I just had surgery,’” Bittner told police. “I was able to use her jacket against her and use a scissors hold against her.”

Bittner said two friends then stopped in the store and helped him hold Desorcie until police arrived, the trooper wrote.

Bittner told police he hit her with the bat because he saw Desorcie pointing something from her pocket and feared for his life, thinking she had a gun.

Linda Bittner, his wife, said she overheard Desorcie demand money and called 911, Barber wrote in his affidvit.

Police said that when they arrived, Desorcie initially said her first name was Michelle before giving police her real name. She was taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center by a Fair Haven Rescue Squad ambulance for treatment of pain in her head and was released.

Desorcie was taken to the State Police barracks in Rutland for questioning.

She told police she drove Sunday afternoon from her home in Hinesburg to a friend’s house in Fair Haven. She said later in the day she drove with another friend to The Pumpkin Patch store for cigarettes and once inside the clerk asked her for identification, according to the affidavit.

Desorcie told police she didn’t have any identification and Bittner started chasing her around the store with a bat, hitting her in the head 10 times before police arrived. She said she didn’t threaten the clerk or pretend to have a gun, Barber wrote.

Bruce Fowler, 20, of Fair Haven told police he drove Desorcie in her vehicle to the store after she specifically asked to go there, and they waited outside in the parking lot for a few minutes, the trooper wrote.

Fowler said Desorcie went into the store, and after a couple of minutes he saw her scuffling with the clerk, according to the affidavit. Fowler told police he got scared and drove back to Fair Haven, leaving her at the store, Barber wrote.

Desorcie pleaded innocent Monday in Rutland District Court to a charge of attempted assault and robbery. She was jailed for lack of $7,500. Desorcie, who is on probation for grand larceny, also faces an alleged probation violation.

“She is pointing a finger under her shirt to get money,” Deputy State’s Attorney Marc Brierre said in court. ‘It’s extremely dangerous conduct. It’s extremely reckless conduct.”

He said the crime appeared to be drug-related.

Public defender Samuel Kinker said Desorcie denied the charges. He asked that she be released on conditions so she could care for her two children, ages 9 and 4.

“She wants to return to her family,” Kinker said.

Instead, Judge Nancy Corsones set bail at $7,500.

“Where were they on Sunday evening when this occurred dozens of miles from her home in Hinesburg?” the judge asked, referring to the children.