7 suspected in burglary ring

Seven people are suspected in a burglary ring that the police say is linked to about 100 burglaries in five states, the Vermont State Police said yesterday.

Most of the burglaries - 60 of them - happened in Vermont. An additional 30 were in New Hampshire, plus four in Maine, four in Massachusetts and one in Virginia, the police said following a multistate investigation.

"Investigations are still is on-going, far reaching, and new crimes are linked every week," the Vermont State Police said.

Four suspects were arrested Saturday; two were in custody in New Hampshire on unrelated charges; and authorities were looking for the seventh - 21-year-old Logan Critchfield of Walpole, the police announced yesterday.

The thieves mostly targeted small businesses without alarm systems in the early morning hours, often breaking through a window to take cash and other items, the police said.

Arrested were: Criscenzo Ruggiero, 20, of Westminster, Vt.; Travis Noyes, 20, of Saxtons River, Vt.; Lance Thomas, 18 ,of Rockingham, Vt.; and Christopher Goldschmidt, 18, of Athens, Vt., all on multiple counts of burglary, unlawful mischief and unlawful trespass. The police were seeking arrest warrants for Cody Loewe, 20, whose last known address was in Bellows Falls, Vt., and Dillon Lange of Alstead, who were already in custody.

The multi-state investigation was launched after law enforcement in Windham County in southern Vermont this summer noticed a pattern of similar burglaries along the Connecticut River Valley, the police said.