Two women and a man have been indicted in court on one count each for falsifying information stemming from a September incident where a person overdosed on heroin behind the Town Hall in Antrim.
Geneva Niskala, Kayla Phillips, and Shawn Lagasse, who are all from Antrim, are each facing a felony-level charge after they allegedly moved a Bennington man’s body while he was overdosing on heroin.
According to Antrim police logs, Phillips called 911 to report that someone was overdosing in a parking lot near Concord Street on September 14. Cpl. Ethan Vaillancourt responded to the area after the call was made and found Thomas Belcher, 30, actively overdosing on heroin just outside of his car in the parking lot. An ambulance responded to the scene and first responders were able to revive Belcher with Narcan.
An investigation led to the arrest of Niskala, Phillips, and Lagasse, who are each facing a charge after they allegedly removed Belcher’s body from the area where he overdosed in order to dodge a potential investigation. Niskala, 41, is facing a falsify physical evidence, destroy, or hide charge. Phillips, 21, is facing a falsify physical evidence, alter, destroy, or hide charge. Lagasse, 31, is facing a falsify physical evidence charge. Each of the charges are class B felonies, which carry three and a half to seven-year sentences and a $4,000 fine.
Belcher was arrested the night he overdosed in September for being a felon in possession of a dangerous weapon. Police reported that Belcher was in possession of metallic knuckles that night.
In February, Belcher was charged with possession of crack cocai ne in Hillsborough. He was indictd on the charge in March.