September 30, 2025 • 45 mins
Sometimes you really just wanna get away –– this week's crimer, Eric Edson, takes that to outlandish and preposterous levels of commitment. Whether on two wheels or four, by land or by sea, either highspeed or slow-rolling, Edson flat out refuses to be caught. It takes a whole consortium of cops, a veritable multiplicty of law enforcement to bring him to justice.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous crime.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's a production of iHeartRadio. And there you are here.
I am Elizabeth.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Look at me.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I've been over here waiting for you for three hours?
Have you at a three minutes? I just walked in.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Felt a little bad.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I just walked in, Atio, So I got a question
for you. You're here, Yes, sir? Do you know what's ridiculous?
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I do?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thank goodness, you do want to share with me?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Well. Research indicates seventy nine percent of shoppers are drawn
to themed products and sixty nine percent actively seek out
limited edition formats.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm telling you this because I have a mashup. And
before I get into it, you want to blame someone,
Blame Simone Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Is that your other name? No?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
She goes by Scorpio Crochet on Instagram. Very talented.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Oh yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
She sent us a DM and said she'd never forwarded
something as fast as this. God and it had a
picture on this sort of meme and a picture sure
of this what I'm going to tell you about. Underneath
it it said toilet's gonna look like Chernobyl right after.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Oh God, buckle up, buttercup, I'm talking to you.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So have you ever watched that show Stranger.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Things the first season and I got bored.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Okay, I've never seen it, but it's got like a
bald lady, bald little girl. Yeah yeah, yeah, but I
think they're all old people now, yeah, they're all.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Grown up totally. They got to be going on for
like eighteen years something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
It's been a longer than SVU anyway. So they teamed
up with Doritos.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And toilet company teamed up the.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Toilet Stranger Things.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh right, I'm so on the Chernobyl toilet.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Toilet, toilet Duck and Doritos are back together. No toilet,
Doritos and Stranger Things. You know, I guess there's a
new season coming out or they're a rest home.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's got to be the last one, right, I would pray.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I've never seen it. I just like making these cracks
like I'm an insider. So they have like old school
looking bags of chips, like the old style Doritos, like
the or whatever. Yeah, so they're doing that. But then
they have something and apparently it looks to me like
it's only in the UK, which is a bummer because
I honestly would try this.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Maybe should travel there.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's Dorito's black Garlic dip never had black garlic. I
have a friend who ferments garlic to make black garlic.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Of course you do, and yeah, of course you food.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It has a creamy texture, bold flavor profile, and charcoal
black color. It's you know, kind of for Halloween. Also
Rob Possier, he's the marketing director at to Rito's. You
can blame him. He said, the black garlic dip is
designed to elevate the snacking experience, perfectly pairing with our
(02:47):
chips for memorable moments. He sounds like's brother, you just
think about your elevating your snacking experience. You're just like
going to town on a bag of Dorito's by yourself,
light of television, sitting on the floor in your own filth,
and you're like, this is a memorable moment. This is
I'm showing you a picture. I'll have them put it
on Instagram. It doesn't so much look black. It looks
(03:09):
navy blue.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Qu construction product blue.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
It changes hours, it doubles as it it's a new
age polymer.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, it would glue.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
From amalgamated Dorito's brands.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
It looks horrible.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It's so ridiculous. The end it's two pounds fifty in
the UK when it comes out, So all of my
UK pals out there try it. Let me know, I'll
be envious because I would kind of like to try
a black garlic dip. Sure, what if it's like Tom, you.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Know I love you do Love Tomb, Yeah, so it
could be equivalent, just.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So it's like black tomb. Yeah, ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, we'll go with that stamp and ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Well, you got a second cause I got some mony
ridiculous for you.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I got all day.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Well, okay. There have been a few escape artists that
we've featured on this show, but I gotta say not
since PCP Super Spy Guy, have we had such an
epic chase, especially not one that devolves as many vehicles
as this. Oh yit. He's on two wheels, he's on
four wheels. He's coming by land, he's coming by sea.
Because Elizabeth, he is this guy. He tried like a
(04:13):
hell to get away. He was like, cowgun, take me away.
It's a whole caper of escapes and it's certified ridiculous.
(04:41):
This is Ridiculous Crime a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers.
Hest and cons it's always ninety nine percent murder free
and one hundred percent ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Oh oh oh, I'm gonna start howling all the time.
That's I'm gonna be.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Like a Howler. There you go. That's that would work,
like Howler monkey, no tail. So, Elizabeth, what do you
know about New England?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It is a new version of Old England. It's in
the United States.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yes, it's charming, upper right corner on the map. Well,
the state's there. They're very different from what we have
out west, like as you know, I spent some time there. Yeah,
and for a Californian like you or ostensibly me, it
can be weird how small the states are. Yeah, right,
it's wild, Like you can be in Massachusetts and then
pop over the border to Connecticut or Vermont just to
(05:34):
buy your groceries, like that's just down the street is
across the border. Again, for someone from the West, like
driving around it can feel wild, like we drive four
hours and you won't even make it to La from
San Francisco.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
You go four hours east and you might be getting
into Nevada.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Oh yeah, totally from here there, Yeah, but like four
hours there across from four or five States. I know
all about to say, Elizabeth, please allow me to introduce
you to life in small town Vermont, specifically Walcott, Vermont.
That's where our story begins.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
That they make Ben and Jerry's Yeah, that's okay, where
it is right there? Wait, Elbean, that's main.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
That's main. Yeah, with the duck boots.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I'm just trying to orient myself.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I appreciate that Massachusetts. That's the Bay Colony.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I love a good fisherman sweater. I've been to Boston.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
There you go. Is that New England, Massachusetts? Yes, it
is so. Walcott, Vermont was named for a signer of
the Declaration of Independence, because I think almost everything back
there is General Oliver Walcott, Okay, Oliver, Yeah, Oliver Walcott,
not just some of Walcott now, despite the fact it's
been around for damn near the whole history of the
United States. In twenty twenty, the population of the town,
(06:41):
according to the census, was a mere sixteen hundred and
seventy people.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Sixteen hundred, yes, small all right.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Now, just to be New England. Confusing an insular in
the town of Walcott, there's also the village of Walcott, oh,
which is an unincorporated village with the exact same name.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
It's like a Russian nesting dolls of Walcott pack.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And I know that it's a virtue to be parsimonious,
like in New England they're like, oh, yes, be like
frugal and smart with your money and with your time
and energy. But I think they could have spared the
effort to come up with a different name for the village,
like come on, live a little New England.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, it's the new Gidea Center Walcott.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
How many licks does it take to get to the
village of Walcott. Anyway, back to the town of Walcott, Yeah,
the small town is not exactly a prosperous place to live.
The median income I look this up is this is
not per adult, this is per household. That's how you
figure media income. It's thirty four thousand, seven hundred and
sixty dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Okay, that makes sense for a rural area.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Now add in the average income for a man in Walcott,
Vermont is twenty seven and ninety eight dollars. The average
income for a woman in Walcott is twenty one nine
and five dollars. Yeah, right, which means roughly fifteen percent
of the town population is just below the poverty line
right off the bat, Elizabeth, do you know about the
poverty line in the US, and like how it's calculated.
(07:56):
It's not calculated by household income, which is what I
thought is calculated by individual income. Yeah, and individuals residing
in a household correct. Yeah, So you want to take
a guess at what the current poverty line is for
a single individual in the United States? What the amount
of money.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
That is a year? You know, I want to say
it's something absolutely insanely low where you think there's no
way you could survive on that.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
You're close yours, You're spot on.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Isn't it like seventeen thousand or some really good?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
According to the Department of Health and Human Services website
for twenty twenty five, for one person, the poverty line
is fifteen thousand, six hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
It's in real life federal. It's across the IRL. It's
above way above.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
That, well one hundred percent. But that's for all of
that's federal, so it doesn't matter if you're in California
or in Walcott. Now, for a household with two people
living in the poverty line is twenty one thousand for
a household with three people living in it's twenty six
thousand and six fifty, whereas if you have four people
in your household, the poverty line is thirty two thousand,
one hundred and fifty dollars. I bring all this up
to point out one the nature of statistics in the
(08:56):
United States and how they're disconnected from reality, but also
be because none of those are reasonable amounts to live on. No, like, no,
twenty six thousand dollars twenty six, six hundred and fifty
for three people, that works out to be twenty dollars
per month. That's before taxes are taken out. And then
have you seen the price of meat lately? I mean, no,
(09:17):
wonder Hamburger Helper is flying off the showw you know
I just did. Anyway, that's the backdrop for this story.
Hard times in rural America and the poverty that grips
the people in those regions, which is very real.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And there are rural areas in every state in the Union.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
One hundred percent, maybe one thousand percent. How big a
percent can I get out the President's way up there.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I don't want to go that far, but thirteen thousand percent, So.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
This is the backdrop that basically this was what motivates
today's anti hero the hard times in a rural America. Sure,
by the way, this story is something of a two parter,
so let's start with part A or part one. Now.
On December first, twenty twenty, our anti hero Eric Edson
saw an opportunity. There was this trailer parked behind a workshop.
Sitting on top of the trailer was a mini excavator
(10:05):
or as your nephew would say, excavator excavator. Now, along
with the excavator was also a DR Power wheelbarrow, Elizabeth,
in case you don't know what a DR Power wheelbarrow is,
I'm here to help. According to the dr website quote,
the pro Power wagon can haul up to seven hundred
pounds with ease, features a powerful electric starting engine, and
(10:27):
a modular cargo bed with removable end panel. So you
think of it kind of like my e bike, right,
But it's a wheelbarrow powered wheels.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
That's pretty cool, right sure. I mean, if you're moving
like loads of bricks completely.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Any assisted labor like that, yeah, it's definitely cool. But
along with just carrying my lazy butt to the to
the kitchen, to get to the water.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Well.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It's like sometimes I used to wish that I had
a motorized bed with wheel and that's how I'd go
to work. You not get out of it all.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
In Davis, there's a guy he'd made a motorized couch.
You remember, right around on the couch. It's like such
an early burning man thing, same theory. Now, along with
this power equipment, there were also a few bags of
cement on the trailer. So all told, there's an excavator
worth twelve thousand dollars, the power wheelbarrow worth about two grand.
The bags of cement, they were like the icing on
(11:26):
the this felonious cake worth Yeah. So when Eric Etson
sees all this value just sitting there, what does he do? Well,
of course he thinks to himself, how can I steal that?
That's gotta be worth something on the black market. Remember
just the trailer itself was worth four grand, and you
steal the trailer and all that comes with it. So
Edson's he backs up his Toyota pickup truck attaches the trailer.
(11:49):
Then smooth is like melting ice cream rolling down a
child's hand. Off he goes. Now for reasons only, Edson
can explain he didn't go directly to like a garage
and like high or like a crime layer or anything. No,
he takes his new stolen booty on like a tour
of the town. This why not, Yeah, it's in our land, pirate.
He just drives around town for at least an hour.
(12:10):
I assume he's driving around, like hitting up different people
he knew who might be in the market for a
hot dr power wheelbarrow excavator.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Listening to Madonnas this used to be my playground most likely.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I also think he may have been in no judgment,
but I'm guessing he had trouble finding maybe a drug
dealer who wanted to trade for a mini excavator.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I mean, let's be real, like, where are you going
to move something like that?
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, I mean there's only so many construction people in
the town of sixteen.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
The local consignment shop.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
What do we take for the trailer? The whole thing
fully loaded? Either way. After an hour him driving around
town with a stolen trailer, he's spotted by a sheriff's deputy.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
This is a town of sixteen.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yes, it's very small town. There's not much town's over
exactly there's not much town to drive around anyway. The
deputy had heard about the stolen trailer, so he turns
on his lights and sirens. He loves exactly pulls over Edson.
So this thief he complies. He pulls over on the
side of the road, and then when the deputy steps
out of his patrol car, Edson floors it. He takes
(13:09):
off his little Toyota pickup trailers off with the attached
to olen trail with a full paload trip totally. So
the deputy just runs back to his cruiser, hops in
he gives chase. So now we got the Sheriff's deputy
in high speed pursuit of the Toyota pickup with the
trailer loaded down with the mini excavator and the dr
power wheelbarrow. Meanwhile, Edson, he's driving like an amateur NASCAR driver, right,
(13:31):
he's this high speed car chase reaches top speeds of
seventy five miles per hour. I'm talking over hill and
Dale Elizabeth through snowy woods like he's Robert Frost. He's
trying to get away, right. Edson's taking side roads, He's
taking dirt roads. He's like in the dukes of Hazzard.
But he like he thinks he can ditch this small
town deputy, the small down deputys like, this is not
Hazard County, and I am not Roscoe Pea coletrane Son,
(13:53):
and you damn she ain't one of the duke boys. Now,
at one point, the trailer becomes unhitched like not like
it gets divorced and it's on mayor yeah, unhitched like
it's now he is no longer connected to the truck,
except for Edson had done the due diligence before he
drove off with the stolen trailer. You see, he'd attached
the emergency chains for this exact possibility. God, yeah, in
case the trailer got undone from the pickup truck.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
For the blight.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Exactly probably most likely, I mean about it. So now
the trailer is swimming around behind his little Toyota pick
up as Edson tries like held us straight in the
curves and flatten the hills, and he loses the sheriff's
deputy on those country back roads. So I guess at
this point when he's like, okay, I ditched the deputy,
where should I go? He goes back into town. According
(14:38):
to local news reports, Edson eventually drives into the North
Hyde Park Fire Department parking lot, like like really sun anyway,
next thing you know, he drives across the lawns of
two different homes, and his whole dukes of hazard escape
plan finally ends when he crashes his Toyota truck into
a stone wall. Boom. Yeah. At this point, he hops
(14:58):
out makes a break for it. He's like, well, forget
all that stuff, wasn't my truck. Anyway, he runs through
the woods, he makes the tree line Elizabeth. He manages
to ditch the deputy again. So the deputy then calls
in the canine units. Because even this town, as small
as they were, I guess maybe a neighboring town or
maybe this town I don't know, had canine units. Dogs
are turned loose in the woods. They go off barking
(15:19):
off after him, slippery as he is. The police dogs
were successful. They catch up to Edson at this like
babbling brook, which the news stories were always keen to
point out, They're we got a babbling brook. I'm like,
is there another kind of brook, isn't there? Like yeah,
like a gossipy brook. So, once he's cornered and caught,
the deputies arrived, they handcuff them, arrest him, and know
when he's arrested, the cops find meth and suboxone in
(15:41):
his pockets. A suboxone, if you're not familiar, is typically
used as an opioid treatment for medication. However, folks can
get addicted to it since it's essentially a low grade opioid.
So at this point in the Lamielle County Superior Court,
fifty one year old Eric Edson of Burlington, Vermont now
pleads guilty on charges of grand larceny and running from
the police. He's initially given seven years behind bars. Yeah,
(16:05):
that's reduced to seventeen months in prison. Wow. Now that
was my man, Eric Edson's first time running from the law,
or at least the first time he got caught. And
that's just to introduce you to his modus operandi aka
the dukes of hazard of meth. Now, next up we'll
get into his much wilder chase. It was so epic
even the Coastguard got involved.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
What.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, but first these messages and will be back in
a bit. We're back, Elizabeth. Hey, So now and he
(16:53):
asked you another question, Yeah, what do you know about
Burlington Vermont aka home of the Burlington Kochek.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I was gonna say, is there a factory there? Wait,
that's about all I know.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Placing my finger to my ear, I'm being told that
is not correct. Burlington Cote Factory is not from Burlington, Vermont,
which I always assumed is said. The company of the
full name Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation was founded in
Burlington Township, New Jersey. So they try and play it off,
right yeaheah. They don't act like we're from New Jersey.
It's much more like we're from Vermont.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, they're trying to you know.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
The fun fact Burlington Cote Factory was founded by a librarian.
Interesting she saved up her money and decided to get
into the coke game. Hey, I don't know. I guess
a lot of coats were left in the library. She's like,
I could move these way. Back in nineteen seventy two,
Henrietta Milstein talked to her husband Monroe, into taking the
seventy five grand she'd saved up working as a librarian
(17:44):
and invested in a former factory outlet store in where
Burlington Township, New Jersey. Seventy five grand that was The
down payment for the full price for the former factory
outlet store was six hundred and seventy five thousand back
in nineteen seventy two. Whoa, Now, the first store was
the success, which led to a second store, and then
the third store and a fourth store, and you get
(18:06):
the idea of the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That's a beautiful story.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Not founded in Burlington, Vermont, as I've always assumed. So
what is Burlington, Vermont actually known for? Great question? Well,
turns out the answer is nothing. No, I can't, I can't. Burlington,
Vermont is a charmingtown. I've been through there numerous times.
For one, is the largest most populous city in the
state of Vermont, population forty seven and forty three.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Wow right wow.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
By hometown a small town Davis, California when I grew up,
and it was like fifty two thousand, and that was
like a small We're considered a college town. Yeah, yeah,
this is the most populous city in Vermont. That's according
last census data. Now, the city of Burlington, which is
its official name City of Burlington, is primarily a college town,
also home to Champlain College and the University of Vermont. Also,
(18:53):
it's a popping hub for renewable energy. I learned. Notably,
it's the first city in the US to be powered
solely by renewable energy. Go on Burlington, and at one
time it was the third largest lumber market in the world.
That was in the nineteenth century. So that's the longer
the case world. So why am I telling you this.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
All about Burlington Vermont?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Sure? Well, another great question, Elizabeth. I'm just you're coming
with your a game. Love that love your curiosity. The
reason I'm telling you about Burlington, Vermont is because that's
called setting the stage.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Oh is that what this is is? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Burlington is where Eric Edson, our Crimer the Day, is
from and where he would make his name as an
escape artist. The story goes on August twenty fourth, twenty
twenty three, Edson walks into a store. What store, the
Sierra Trading Post on five five five Shelbourne Road, come
down and visit in Burlington, Vermont. Once inside, he gets
to shopping. Trouble is, he doesn't have the funds to
(19:43):
pay for his fines. So what does he do? He
tries to walk out with the stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
We'll just put it back.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, He's like, no, no, I got it in my hands,
already really attached these just his shirt would be dope
on me. So he tries to make it out the door.
I think he got out the door because, as the
police bulletin states, quote when I see the era, a
trading post employee asked Edson to return the merchandise to
the store. Edson told the employee, dude, I'll blow your
head off. Whoa, and partially pulled an item that appeared
to be a firearm from his hooded sweatshirt pocket. So
(20:12):
apparently this employee thought to himself, I don't get paid
enough to stop this.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Well, he's pulling a gun out of the kangaroo pocket
in his hoodie. Exactly, No, were some outdoor gear.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Well, if you want to know the stolen goods, his
haul of merch it consisted of one a backpack, eleven shirts,
a pair of sneakers, a pair of socks, and a
water jug o. Yeah, definitely not worth getting your head below.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Altogether, the stolen booty was valued at a grand total
of three hundred and seventy four dollars. Yeah. So once
the employee backs off at this point, Edson runs over
to his waiting vehicle tosses in his ill gotten gains,
and then the land pirate drives off. Yeah, this is
how our story begins. Flash forward to a week later,
August thirtieth, twenty twenty three. Yeah, two officers from the
(21:00):
Burlington PD are called out to do a welfare check.
It seems someone has spotted this dude quote passed out
in a running vehicle. So now these two officers respond
to the call and they quickly locate the vehicle and
the still passed out man. Officers step out of their
patrol car. They walk over to the vehicle and I
assend like I'm imagining the tapping night stick on the window.
Sure anyway, Oh, I forgot to mention the vehicle matched
(21:22):
the description of the car using the robbery at Sierra
Trading Post a week prior.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Oh detail.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, so their officers have a reason to believe this
might be the same guy the robber who, as I
remind you, flashed what looked to be a gun. So
the Kausea cops approach. They're a little bit wary about
confronting the passed out man because he could wake up,
get scared, start blasting. However, since it is their job
to wake come up. They carefully rouse the man and
they check to see if he's still alive. Elizabeth, he
is still alive, very much alive, indeed. And when he
(21:50):
wakes up and there are two police officers staring down
at him through the window, he gets heated. No, and
I quote from the police, he became belligerent and uncoopered. So,
but that's not all. Apparently the man was no fan
of cops, so or perhaps he was worried that they
were there about the whole Sierra Trading Post incident. I
don't know what his motivation was, but what I do
know is this, since his car was already running and
(22:13):
he's now wide awake and in the driver's seat, there's
only one other thing he needs to do, which is
pressed down on that gas battle which is empty, right,
it's right there, So he puts it in gear and
he floors it. Problem was, the cops were apparently on
either side or somehow close enough to the car that,
as the police report states, quote, he fled at a
high rate of speed, assaulting both officers with the vehicle
(22:35):
and the process. So they go off their feet. And
I don't want you to worry about them. They were uninjured.
They just got knocked down, knocked back, eyes with how
I imagine it. Anyway, the cops raced back to their cruiser
and began to chase them in, but try as they might,
my old land pirate Eric Edson gets away His getaway
vehicles next spotted where he abandons it in a place
(22:57):
called the North Avenue Cooperative. Now I was thinking, oh,
this is Ramont North, I have a new cooperative. I
bet it's some like commune, like a bunch of like
aging hippies that are wrong. It was described in local
news as quote a manufactured home park in Burlington's New
North End. Okay, so I'm pretty sure that means like
in newspeak, a trailer park.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Trailer park.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah. Yeah, So anyway, the officers from Burlington PD attempt
to seize the abandoned vehicle, but while they're waiting for
the tow truck the cops they spot a man watching
them who's not too far away. He seems to me
watching them with intent. So, as you guessed it, it's
the purp Edson are police have Eric blocked his access
to what I assume is his stolen vehicle, so he
does the next best thing. He hooks it. He runs off,
(23:37):
but he doesn't run for very long because next thing
you know, he steals a bicycle and he attempts to
get away on his new hot bike. Also, it seems
he may have still had the same firearm, because multiple
eyewitnesses later claimed to have seen him brandishing the handgun.
So he's on this hot bike waving a handgun around,
like get away from me or whatever. So he's riding
around a small town on a stolen bike waving a gun.
(23:57):
Doesn't take Edson long to do the math. He realizes
he's going to get caught, so he's like, how far
can I go fling on two wheels? I'm going to
need a new getaway vehicle. Yeah, Elizabeth, you want to
guess what he steals next?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I have no idea what he could be stealing.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
For your first hint, Edson rides his stolen bike down
to a place called Apple Tree Bay. Once there, he
ditches the bike. He spots a much better getaway vehicle,
a sailboat.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Oh my god, And he's like a sailboat, not even
like a craft.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
No, No, that would be like makes too much sense.
He's like, I almost something I could live on. So
he's like time for this lampirate to take to the seas.
So that's exactly what he does. He steals the sailboat
and like Enya and the Orinoco Flow, he tries to
sail away, sail away Christopher Cross. Right. So the police
they can't just commandeer sailboats and they're like tarn it.
(24:50):
So then they do the next best thing. They contact
the coast guard. We're going to need you to bring
in somebody. And they're like, just name the boat, right, Yeah,
he's on a lady's pleasure. It's just come up. So
they asked the coast guard to catch this purp.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
It doesn't take the coast guard long to spot Edson
in his stolen sailboat. I don't know if he's like
just like like, you know, tacking incorrectly. When you run one.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Motor to get out, you know of like, uh, you
know a harbor, harbor, you.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Don't you don't go very fast, No you're not supposed to.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But it also just can't.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Then once you get out in the open seas, you
still don't go very fast.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Whole tail in a sailboat with the motor. Now, but
when the winds up and you get yeah, sure, get
some speed, but still you could be all America's cups
slicing through the water.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
It's like a coast guard cutter.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Oh no, forget about that. You know, game over.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
So they intercept him on the open seas pretty quickly
and using their coast guard boat. I don't know if
it was a coast guard cutter, but it'll say a
coast guard boat. They forced Edson to turn back for land.
They're like, go back to where you belong.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
They just like circled around in like the donuts.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
So at this point Edson is fully committed to getting away.
He's like, I've come too far. So he doesn't give up.
He damned does not the coastguard to tell him what
to do or board his stolen sailboat. So he does
head for the like what they're what they're telling him to do.
He heads for land, but he doesn't stop there. He
just runs right into land. He runs a sailboat aground.
Yeah I'm taking like I'm talking like. He smashes the
(26:16):
boat into like the base of a cliff, a place
called rock Point, which I have to assume these are
rocky cliffs, sure, because I do know that all I
know is this, I'll tell you what I do know Edson.
He can't just like run aground on sandy shores. One
there's the keel of the sailboat. I think something deep
because eventually he's forced to leap from the boat onto
wet rocks. And what we do know for sure is,
(26:36):
as the police report states he abandoned the craft.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
It's like he's going out of his way at every
step to make it worse.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
The next Edson continues on foot, he now does his
patented Edson move. He runs off into the woods, and
the one the woods that surround the cliffs at Rock Point.
So at this point, you know, it's like when in doubt,
head for the woods. That's what my daddy taught me exactly.
So at this point, officers the local Colchester Police Department
arrive on the scene to help catch this slippery purf.
(27:04):
But those officers, they're up at the top of the cliffs,
and thus they couldn't locate Edson down where he is
because he's below them and he's run into the woods.
But they can see him kind of like darting between
the trees. So they call out to him, like, hey, buddy,
where have you surrounded, come out with your hands up.
The cops trive this multiple times to quote, make contact
and start negotiations. So now we have a multi jurisdictional
(27:26):
task force of officers working the same scene. You have
the Coast guardsmen from the Coast Guard working the shore.
You have the original Burlington cops working alongside with cops
from the Colchester PD. They're soon joined by officers from
the University of Vermont PD, along with canine cops from
the Essex Police Department. Total task force. Meanwhile, the Burlington
PD turns to yet another agency for help, the Vermont
(27:48):
Department of Fish and Wildlife. Everybody, he's in the woods Elizabeth.
They're like, well, that's your jurisdiction. So, according to BPD,
as the police the latter report and their bulletin on
the ongoing manhunt, quote, it was thanks to their efforts
that BPD personnel was able to get on to shore
to search the Rock Point area. Now, altogether, with all
(28:08):
this assistance, this task force of multiple law enforcement agencies,
they still cannot find or locate Edson or apprehend him.
Even with the canine unit on the case. This time,
he's able to evade the dogs so he escapes fully
into the woods. So the police, the cops, they turned
to the public for help. They put out bulletins with
photos of Edson and they basically tell the public, if
(28:30):
you see this man, call us for now. Up to
August thirty first. One week later, the Burlington PD put
out yet another police bulletin. It's an update on their
manhunt and the update is Edson is spotted in a
neighboring town in nearby Fairfax, Vermont. Their officers informed the
public quote, police are seeking the public's help and locating
(28:52):
a man who was involved in an armed robbery and
pursued in Burlington last week. Police release surveillance photos of
Eric Edson today. The fifty two year old has wanted
for the robbery of a man on Goose Pond Road.
Edson has also wondered for the theft of multiple vehicles
in Cambridge and Fairfax. So you want to take a
guess at what new to him vehicle Edson at this
point has stolen for his prolonged flight from the law.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Stop guessing, Elizabeth, you never guess.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
I'll never guess it.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
As the Fairfax PD explained in their bulletin. Edson has
quote been most recently seen operating a full sized John
Deere tractor in the Fairfax area. No, but his means
of transportation at this point are unknown.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
He's just going for slower and slower vehicles.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
He's like, it's slow, let's wrong, I'll do it. So
he's now got this big hass green and yellow John
Deere tractor as his getaway vehicle in small town from
hot I also, I have to assume he is not
sober for most of his Did he stole a John
Dear tractor?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Tractor jack? Somebody like out there in the field just
shoved him off.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
No.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I think he came upon like a basically a house
and he saw the tractor was just sitting at jack
up on a guy get off the track, shoves him off,
his hand in his pouch pocket for his exactly stealing
a full sized tractor. That just smacks of being high
as hell. In my book, that's methad logic, right. And
it's not like he's gonna steal a tractor and be
(30:12):
like I'm going to make a run for the Canadian border.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Now, there's no logic to any of them.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
None whatsoever. You cannot find a path to loge.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
I want to stop and say, now, honestly, how do
you think this is going to play out?
Speaker 2 (30:23):
I shouldn't be laughing, But apparently the police chief of Burlington,
John Murrad, knew that people would be laughing because he
came forward to warn the public that quote. Because of
the unusualness of mister Edson's various modes of flight, from
cars to bikes, to paddle boards, to sailboats to tractors,
it's easy to lose sight of the fact that mister
Edson is a dangerous person. Don't you laugh?
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Guys, He's silly, but he's dangerous.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, he's still likely ar yeah, his packet. He also,
by the way, the gun could be a water gun.
Nobody has seen him fire it or even really get ready.
You know, it could just be like, hey, I got
a gun. It could could be a toy gun. Who knows. Anyway,
So we have this dude probably flying high on math,
possibly armed with the fire arm, possibly arm with the
water gun, whatever, stealing whatever he can go that goes slowly. Yeah,
So and to go where where is he trying to get?
(31:07):
To question? Well, because you know I joked earlier about
making a run for the border. Yeah, but it's not
like he was actually close to the Canadian border where
they are in Vermont. It's like sixty miles, like fifty
to seventy miles, So i'll say sixty miles away. That's
a bit of a drive on a John Deere tractor.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
That is.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Now, that's like a plot of like a movie, you know,
trying to make the run for the border.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
You have to stop and fill up that tank right now.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
The next update the please share with the public is
that Edson's still at large, is driving around the area,
but he'd stolen a new vehicle. Oh no, don't worry.
I won't make you guess this time. I'll just tell
you what it is. Or rather I'll let the Burlington
and Fairfax pd tell you. According to the latest bulletin
on the ongoing man hunt, Edson had stolen yet another
slow moving get away vehicle, as a Burlington DPD put
(31:50):
it quote. Surveillance footage showed Edson on Goose Pond Road
in Fairfax on Wednesday. One image shows him approaching the
door of her residence. The second shows him operating a
stolen dump truck. A dump truck Elizabeth, he's now harmed
in dangerous hi giraffe eyebrows driving a stolen dump truck
around the backwards of Vermont.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
You gotta give him credit, though they haven't caught him yet.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Right, it's apparently working. So how far can he possibly
get in a stolen dump truck? And what is he
going to steal next? Well, rather than tell you that,
I'd like you to close your eyes and I'd like
you to picture it. It's a calm Thursday in September,
September seventh, twenty twenty three, to be exact. And you, Elizabeth,
(32:35):
are working as a game warden for the Vermont Department
of Fish and Wildlife. It's early afternoon, just after lunchtime
for lunch, you enjoyed one of those bowls of ruffage
you like rabbit food your coworkers like to call it. Anyway,
Just after you finish your rabbit food lunch, your radio
squawks to light A tip has been called in. The
notorious land pirate Eric Edson has been spotted all no
(32:55):
longer driving the stolen dump truck. You hear the report
that he's been seeing on the Lambiel River paddling what's
presumed to be a stolen kayak. You know you're not
that far from the river, so you run to your truck,
fired up and head over to the location where Edson
was last spotted. When you arrived there, there's a makeshift
task force of multiple law enforcement agencies in their vehicles.
There's all kinds of cop cars from neighboring towns parked
(33:18):
alongside trucks from your co workers at the Vermont Department
of Fish and Wildlife. You hop out and use your
radio to find out the latest. Your radio squawks again
with a report back. Edson is still on the river.
You head down to the water's edge, not far from
Vermont Route one oh four A, and you stomp your
way through the underbrush of twigs and summer dried leaves.
You hear someone a splashing in the river. When you
(33:39):
break through the woods, you spot it there. He is
paddling like hell, headed up river. You call out to him, Eric, Edson,
we have you surrounded. Edson spins around on a kayak
and spots you on the northern bank of the river.
Then he cranes his neck around the other way. It
sees all kinds of cops pushing through the woods on
the southern bank of the river. He decides to chance
it on your side. He paddles towards you on the
(34:02):
northern bank. You snake through the trees and try to
catch up to him before he can disappear again into
the woods. You call out again, Edson, freeze, you're under arrest.
That's about as useless as bring an all beef franks
to a vegan pot. Look Edson sets foot on dry
land and immediately starts running. You give chase. The twigs
and leaves sound beneath your hiking boots. You're far faster
(34:22):
than he expects you are. You draw within about twenty
feet of him to get away. He decides to double
back for the river. He stops running when he reaches
a wide flat rock at the river shore. He turns
back and yells, oh innocent. You look at him like
Tommy Lee Jones, and you coolly tell him I don't care.
In response, he turns towards the river and he jumps
off the wide flat rock with a mighty splash. He
(34:45):
drops back into the river. Then he attempts to slim across.
You watch from the shore as he tries to make
it across that wide, slow moving river. He does make
it on the southern bank. He crawls out, sopping wet.
He waves back at you and then disappears into the woods.
You can hear the cops on the other side as
they spot them, and they release the dogs. Moments later,
you're radio squawks to life again. Eric Heedsen has been
(35:08):
caught near the Georgia Mountain Road. You may not have
caught him, but you're damn sure glad you did your
part to bring in the most wanted man, the ever
slippery Eric Edson. Nice work, game Ward and Elizabeth, thank you.
As soon as he's busted, Eric Edson requests a medical evaluation.
That means fire and rescue. You have to come out.
And now we got a larger task force. Members of
(35:29):
the Milton Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office
I just keep naming. They're also on the scene to
provide support when Edson's taken into custody. Not to mention
the Colchester and the Essex Police departments who also dispatched
resources to assist. What a chase. It was like the fugitive,
except in your case. Eventually, you and all these cops
and game Wards and Coast guardsmen, you all finally get
(35:51):
your man. So let's take a little break and now
he's been caught. Catch a breather, and when we get back,
we'll find out what justice looks like for a land
pirate in Vermont. That look like we're back, Elizabethaber. You
(36:23):
ready to hear how this mad methkaper comes to a
tiger close? Yes, well, now that Eric Edson is caught,
what does justice look like? Well? Edson goes to court
the very next day, on Friday, just one day after
all you apprehended him, and just like he said to you,
he denies it was him. I'm innocent, as the local
headlines proclaimed, armed robbery suspect who evaded police for a
week denies charges in court, which makes perfect sense. I
(36:46):
mean he's facing multiple charges. Of course, you know he's
going to do his best impression of the singer Shaggy
and say it wasn't me.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
He's got to have a public defender, and they're always
pushing for just kind of deals.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Oh pretty much. So when he's standing there in the
Crittenden County Superior County Criminal Court, Edson enters a not
guilty plea at his arraignment. The charges he's facing, by
the way, are assault for how he tossed the two
cops from the wellness check sure when he first fled.
And then also he's got the original robbery charges from
the Sierra Trading Post and forget that which involved a
weapon allegedly, right, and then you have to add in
(37:19):
all of the stolen vehicles. For instance, Elizabeth. For just
the stolen sailboat, Edson faced quote two counts of unauthorized
use of a boat and three counts of careless and
negligent operation of a vessel as the result of the
alleged theft of a sailboat. Yeah, so he's facing multiple
charges just from the seilboat. And then you add in
the stolen bike, the stolen John Dear tractor, don't forget
the dump truck. Each of those separate charges with the
(37:41):
related driving charges anytime he got he was He's not
like he was speeding, but you know, reckless endangerment. Of course,
there's also the charges for running from the law. Naturally,
the judge recognizes that Edson is what we call a
clear flight risk. Yeah, that's his whole mo. So the
judge orders have held without bail. Edson gets locked up
the north West State Correctional Facility in Saint Albans, Vermont.
(38:03):
Perhaps his time behind bars allows him to like sober up.
I don't know, but he eventually realizes what sort of
time he's going to be facing. So because he recants,
he's not guilty, plead Instead, Edson takes a plea deal.
Like you said, he gets offered a pleae deal. Yeah,
but that was just the local charges. Edson was still
facing federal charges Coastcard.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
So you see, the day after he was first caught,
a federal grand jury had been convened, and the federal
grand jury returned to simple one count indictment based on
the Hobbes Act. What's well, on November eighth, he settles
those federal charges because he accepted an offer from the
US Attorney's office that was to settle the charges that
he violated the Hobbs Act. And as you are wondering, Zaren,
what the heck is the Hobbs Act, I asked the
(38:44):
bust question the absolute best. I'm really glad you asked,
because according to the Department of Justice, the Hobbs Act
quote is prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting
interstate or foreign commerce. Maybe maybe wondering how does that
apply in this instance? Well, luckily the DOJ helpfully explains
on its website. Although the Hobs Act was enacted as
(39:05):
a statute to combat racketeering and labor management disputes, the
statute is frequently used in connection with cases involving public corruption,
commercial disputes, violent criminals and street gangs, and corruption directed
at members of labor unions.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
And I still am not seeing how that.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
I'm guessing Edson qualifies as a violent criminal because at
the Sierra Trading Post having been gone, it starts us
all off. Or perhaps he's a one man street gang.
Who knows, or perhaps the maybe the Sierra Trading Post
was a member for labor union this was I don't know.
But in response to his plea deal in December of
twenty twenty three, Edson was convicted and sentenced to four
(39:44):
years in federal prison with a subsequent three years of
supervised release, which means he got less time for this
one than the first one I told you about.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Oh yeah, it is justice.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
And so ends the mad Methkaper of the Land Pirate.
The Burlington bandit. So what's a ridiculous takeaway here, Elizabeth.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Let's see, I think stay off drugs.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
That's a good one.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
And always you always have to think through like what
am I seeking here? What relief do I seek? Or
what outcome am I seeking?
Speaker 2 (40:17):
And I'm just.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Really curious, like if you were to sit him down
and try and get him clear headed and say, how
do you see this completely playing out?
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Yeah? No, totally. I don't think he's the endgame. I
don't think he ever had one. I mean based on
his like, oh, I'm going to steal the dump truck,
I'm a steal a tractor. I think he was very
much as you know some of like the life coaches
that some of the Buddhists might say is live in
the moment. He was very much living in the moment.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Well, and as I harp on impulse control, yes, he
has zero.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Slow and low. It is the tempo.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Well, it's like the thought crosses his mind and he
just does it. There's zero impulse control. So his impulse
is I have to run. I have to get away.
They can't catch me.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, can't get caught again? Are you going back?
Speaker 1 (40:58):
So there's a boat, so.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Yeah, exactly. And also sailboats that seems fun.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
You know who doesn't like them?
Speaker 2 (41:04):
The other ones run out again, this doesn't run out
of wind.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
That's right, I can just go forever, Zaren, what's your
ridiculous Oh thank you for asking?
Speaker 2 (41:11):
What day is it? My birthday is? Wow. Well, since
you're interested, I will say this, how many Keystone cops
in Vermont did it take to catch him? How many
agencies did I list off? I mean I lost track personally,
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Human hours dedicated to this one right goofball?
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Like, I'm just I was blown away, like how many?
Like I'm like, you guys like there's like thirty five
cops involved, maybe seventy five. I have no idea. This
is a ridiculous number. And then you guys are still
like it took them weeks to catch up.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
That's what I can.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
And these are small towns. It's like, can you just
like cordon off the parts of the streets and be like, Okay,
I know he's in the woods and stuff, but I mean, like.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Honestly, if he were down in the South.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
It would have shot him. No, they had when I lived.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Down there, on the news, when people would do these
sort of things. They drag their mama out and the
mom wol you got to come in. You got to
come in. You cannot do this. You are hurting me,
you are hurting our family. And then like you know,
the next day he turns himself in.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I like that. We both went into junior immediately. You
just know exactly that is so true though, this is
exactly what would happened in this out. They would they
pull out mama and she a big, big mob either
one whoever's living, and he's the oldest woman in the family, right,
and she's gonna like shame him for what he's done and.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Tell him like this, this ain't right. You have got
to come home. You've got to turn yourself in.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
And nine times nine times it's amazing. So you in
the mood for a talkback and watch this all down
talkbacks pretucerd can you favor us with one? Oh my god,
because I love ge.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
Hell over, dude. Just someone goes out to a visit.
But check out the Note Gallery. It has everything from
art forgeries and how do you say cucumber. Alec Baldwin
did a podcast on.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
It, and the art director of the gallery who only
bought the forged painting because it had a signature that
misspelled Jackson Pollock's name.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
Check it out, love you guys.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Bye, Oh my god, that's incredible typo.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
But is that legal protection?
Speaker 3 (43:26):
You know?
Speaker 2 (43:26):
It's like, oh, this is Jackson.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Pollack Colick Pollick. Yeah, that actually could that's good cover?
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Right? Is it a crime off by one letter? Go?
I love it well as always. You can find us
online Ridiculous Crime on social media that's mostly Instagram and
blues Guide. On Instagram you can find pictures of all
the crimes we talk about and other delectable bits. And
on blue Sky you can find uh, you know, the
good links. So there you go. And also we have
our account Ridiculous Crime Pod on YouTube. There you see
(43:57):
a really cool version of animated version and not of
the story, but of us telling the story. Yeah, and
we have our website ridiculous Crime dot com, which I
believe is up for a Nobel Peace Prize. Don't tell
the President. Yes. Finally, and obviously we love your talkback,
(44:17):
so please go download the iHeart app, download it, leave
us a talkback and maybe hear your voice here. We'd
love to hear it. And also you can email us
if you want Everydiculous Crime at gmail dot comb. Thank
you for listening. We will catch you next crime. Ridiculous Crime.
(44:38):
It is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaron Burnette, produced
and edited by the light Fingered Fellow of Providence, Rhode Island,
Dave Kustin, and starring Annalis Rucker as who. The research
is by the ever fleet footed riverboat Pirate Marissa Brown
and the water running Jesus Liver Jabbari Davis. Our theme
song is by a resident house band, the Hans Zimmer
who stole the keys to Mobima Thomas and Travis Dunton.
(45:01):
The host wardrobe provided by Body five hundred. Guest hair
and makeup by Sparkleshot and mister Andre. Executive producers are
Atlanta's Most Wanted, The Perfectly Purloined Purpose, Ben Bolin and
Mowling Brown.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Pdicous Cry Say It.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
One More Time Giquious Cry. Ridiculous Crime is a production
of iHeartRadio.
Ridiculous crime.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's a production of iHeartRadio. And there you are here.
I am Elizabeth.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Look at me.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I've been over here waiting for you for three hours?
Have you at a three minutes? I just walked in.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Felt a little bad.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I just walked in, Atio, So I got a question
for you. You're here, Yes, sir? Do you know what's ridiculous?
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I do?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thank goodness, you do want to share with me?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Well. Research indicates seventy nine percent of shoppers are drawn
to themed products and sixty nine percent actively seek out
limited edition formats.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm telling you this because I have a mashup. And
before I get into it, you want to blame someone,
Blame Simone Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Is that your other name? No?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
She goes by Scorpio Crochet on Instagram. Very talented.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Oh yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
She sent us a DM and said she'd never forwarded
something as fast as this. God and it had a
picture on this sort of meme and a picture sure
of this what I'm going to tell you about. Underneath
it it said toilet's gonna look like Chernobyl right after.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Oh God, buckle up, buttercup, I'm talking to you.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So have you ever watched that show Stranger.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Things the first season and I got bored.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Okay, I've never seen it, but it's got like a
bald lady, bald little girl. Yeah yeah, yeah, but I
think they're all old people now, yeah, they're all.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Grown up totally. They got to be going on for
like eighteen years something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
It's been a longer than SVU anyway. So they teamed
up with Doritos.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And toilet company teamed up the.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Toilet Stranger Things.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh right, I'm so on the Chernobyl toilet.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Toilet, toilet Duck and Doritos are back together. No toilet,
Doritos and Stranger Things. You know, I guess there's a
new season coming out or they're a rest home.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's got to be the last one, right, I would pray.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I've never seen it. I just like making these cracks
like I'm an insider. So they have like old school
looking bags of chips, like the old style Doritos, like
the or whatever. Yeah, so they're doing that. But then
they have something and apparently it looks to me like
it's only in the UK, which is a bummer because
I honestly would try this.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Maybe should travel there.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's Dorito's black Garlic dip never had black garlic. I
have a friend who ferments garlic to make black garlic.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Of course you do, and yeah, of course you food.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It has a creamy texture, bold flavor profile, and charcoal
black color. It's you know, kind of for Halloween. Also
Rob Possier, he's the marketing director at to Rito's. You
can blame him. He said, the black garlic dip is
designed to elevate the snacking experience, perfectly pairing with our
(02:47):
chips for memorable moments. He sounds like's brother, you just
think about your elevating your snacking experience. You're just like
going to town on a bag of Dorito's by yourself,
light of television, sitting on the floor in your own filth,
and you're like, this is a memorable moment. This is
I'm showing you a picture. I'll have them put it
on Instagram. It doesn't so much look black. It looks
(03:09):
navy blue.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Qu construction product blue.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
It changes hours, it doubles as it it's a new
age polymer.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, it would glue.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
From amalgamated Dorito's brands.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
It looks horrible.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It's so ridiculous. The end it's two pounds fifty in
the UK when it comes out, So all of my
UK pals out there try it. Let me know, I'll
be envious because I would kind of like to try
a black garlic dip. Sure, what if it's like Tom, you.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Know I love you do Love Tomb, Yeah, so it
could be equivalent, just.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So it's like black tomb. Yeah, ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, we'll go with that stamp and ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Well, you got a second cause I got some mony
ridiculous for you.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I got all day.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Well, okay. There have been a few escape artists that
we've featured on this show, but I gotta say not
since PCP Super Spy Guy, have we had such an
epic chase, especially not one that devolves as many vehicles
as this. Oh yit. He's on two wheels, he's on
four wheels. He's coming by land, he's coming by sea.
Because Elizabeth, he is this guy. He tried like a
(04:13):
hell to get away. He was like, cowgun, take me away.
It's a whole caper of escapes and it's certified ridiculous.
(04:41):
This is Ridiculous Crime a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers.
Hest and cons it's always ninety nine percent murder free
and one hundred percent ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Oh oh oh, I'm gonna start howling all the time.
That's I'm gonna be.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Like a Howler. There you go. That's that would work,
like Howler monkey, no tail. So, Elizabeth, what do you
know about New England?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It is a new version of Old England. It's in
the United States.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yes, it's charming, upper right corner on the map. Well,
the state's there. They're very different from what we have
out west, like as you know, I spent some time there. Yeah,
and for a Californian like you or ostensibly me, it
can be weird how small the states are. Yeah, right,
it's wild, Like you can be in Massachusetts and then
pop over the border to Connecticut or Vermont just to
(05:34):
buy your groceries, like that's just down the street is
across the border. Again, for someone from the West, like
driving around it can feel wild, like we drive four
hours and you won't even make it to La from
San Francisco.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
You go four hours east and you might be getting
into Nevada.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Oh yeah, totally from here there, Yeah, but like four
hours there across from four or five States. I know
all about to say, Elizabeth, please allow me to introduce
you to life in small town Vermont, specifically Walcott, Vermont.
That's where our story begins.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
That they make Ben and Jerry's Yeah, that's okay, where
it is right there? Wait, Elbean, that's main.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
That's main. Yeah, with the duck boots.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I'm just trying to orient myself.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I appreciate that Massachusetts. That's the Bay Colony.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I love a good fisherman sweater. I've been to Boston.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
There you go. Is that New England, Massachusetts? Yes, it
is so. Walcott, Vermont was named for a signer of
the Declaration of Independence, because I think almost everything back
there is General Oliver Walcott, Okay, Oliver, Yeah, Oliver Walcott,
not just some of Walcott now, despite the fact it's
been around for damn near the whole history of the
United States. In twenty twenty, the population of the town,
(06:41):
according to the census, was a mere sixteen hundred and
seventy people.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Sixteen hundred, yes, small all right.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Now, just to be New England. Confusing an insular in
the town of Walcott, there's also the village of Walcott, oh,
which is an unincorporated village with the exact same name.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
It's like a Russian nesting dolls of Walcott pack.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And I know that it's a virtue to be parsimonious,
like in New England they're like, oh, yes, be like
frugal and smart with your money and with your time
and energy. But I think they could have spared the
effort to come up with a different name for the village,
like come on, live a little New England.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, it's the new Gidea Center Walcott.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
How many licks does it take to get to the
village of Walcott. Anyway, back to the town of Walcott, Yeah,
the small town is not exactly a prosperous place to live.
The median income I look this up is this is
not per adult, this is per household. That's how you
figure media income. It's thirty four thousand, seven hundred and
sixty dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Okay, that makes sense for a rural area.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Now add in the average income for a man in Walcott,
Vermont is twenty seven and ninety eight dollars. The average
income for a woman in Walcott is twenty one nine
and five dollars. Yeah, right, which means roughly fifteen percent
of the town population is just below the poverty line
right off the bat, Elizabeth, do you know about the
poverty line in the US, and like how it's calculated.
(07:56):
It's not calculated by household income, which is what I
thought is calculated by individual income. Yeah, and individuals residing
in a household correct. Yeah, So you want to take
a guess at what the current poverty line is for
a single individual in the United States? What the amount
of money.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
That is a year? You know, I want to say
it's something absolutely insanely low where you think there's no
way you could survive on that.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
You're close yours, You're spot on.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Isn't it like seventeen thousand or some really good?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
According to the Department of Health and Human Services website
for twenty twenty five, for one person, the poverty line
is fifteen thousand, six hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
It's in real life federal. It's across the IRL. It's
above way above.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
That, well one hundred percent. But that's for all of
that's federal, so it doesn't matter if you're in California
or in Walcott. Now, for a household with two people
living in the poverty line is twenty one thousand for
a household with three people living in it's twenty six
thousand and six fifty, whereas if you have four people
in your household, the poverty line is thirty two thousand,
one hundred and fifty dollars. I bring all this up
to point out one the nature of statistics in the
(08:56):
United States and how they're disconnected from reality, but also
be because none of those are reasonable amounts to live on. No, like, no,
twenty six thousand dollars twenty six, six hundred and fifty
for three people, that works out to be twenty dollars
per month. That's before taxes are taken out. And then
have you seen the price of meat lately? I mean, no,
(09:17):
wonder Hamburger Helper is flying off the showw you know
I just did. Anyway, that's the backdrop for this story.
Hard times in rural America and the poverty that grips
the people in those regions, which is very real.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And there are rural areas in every state in the Union.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
One hundred percent, maybe one thousand percent. How big a
percent can I get out the President's way up there.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I don't want to go that far, but thirteen thousand percent, So.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
This is the backdrop that basically this was what motivates
today's anti hero the hard times in a rural America. Sure,
by the way, this story is something of a two parter,
so let's start with part A or part one. Now.
On December first, twenty twenty, our anti hero Eric Edson
saw an opportunity. There was this trailer parked behind a workshop.
Sitting on top of the trailer was a mini excavator
(10:05):
or as your nephew would say, excavator excavator. Now, along
with the excavator was also a DR Power wheelbarrow, Elizabeth,
in case you don't know what a DR Power wheelbarrow is,
I'm here to help. According to the dr website quote,
the pro Power wagon can haul up to seven hundred
pounds with ease, features a powerful electric starting engine, and
(10:27):
a modular cargo bed with removable end panel. So you
think of it kind of like my e bike, right,
But it's a wheelbarrow powered wheels.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
That's pretty cool, right sure. I mean, if you're moving
like loads of bricks completely.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Any assisted labor like that, yeah, it's definitely cool. But
along with just carrying my lazy butt to the to
the kitchen, to get to the water.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Well.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It's like sometimes I used to wish that I had
a motorized bed with wheel and that's how I'd go
to work. You not get out of it all.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
In Davis, there's a guy he'd made a motorized couch.
You remember, right around on the couch. It's like such
an early burning man thing, same theory. Now, along with
this power equipment, there were also a few bags of
cement on the trailer. So all told, there's an excavator
worth twelve thousand dollars, the power wheelbarrow worth about two grand.
The bags of cement, they were like the icing on
(11:26):
the this felonious cake worth Yeah. So when Eric Etson
sees all this value just sitting there, what does he do? Well,
of course he thinks to himself, how can I steal that?
That's gotta be worth something on the black market. Remember
just the trailer itself was worth four grand, and you
steal the trailer and all that comes with it. So
Edson's he backs up his Toyota pickup truck attaches the trailer.
(11:49):
Then smooth is like melting ice cream rolling down a
child's hand. Off he goes. Now for reasons only, Edson
can explain he didn't go directly to like a garage
and like high or like a crime layer or anything. No,
he takes his new stolen booty on like a tour
of the town. This why not, Yeah, it's in our land, pirate.
He just drives around town for at least an hour.
(12:10):
I assume he's driving around, like hitting up different people
he knew who might be in the market for a
hot dr power wheelbarrow excavator.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Listening to Madonnas this used to be my playground most likely.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I also think he may have been in no judgment,
but I'm guessing he had trouble finding maybe a drug
dealer who wanted to trade for a mini excavator.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I mean, let's be real, like, where are you going
to move something like that?
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, I mean there's only so many construction people in
the town of sixteen.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
The local consignment shop.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
What do we take for the trailer? The whole thing
fully loaded? Either way. After an hour him driving around
town with a stolen trailer, he's spotted by a sheriff's deputy.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
This is a town of sixteen.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yes, it's very small town. There's not much town's over
exactly there's not much town to drive around anyway. The
deputy had heard about the stolen trailer, so he turns
on his lights and sirens. He loves exactly pulls over Edson.
So this thief he complies. He pulls over on the
side of the road, and then when the deputy steps
out of his patrol car, Edson floors it. He takes
(13:09):
off his little Toyota pickup trailers off with the attached
to olen trail with a full paload trip totally. So
the deputy just runs back to his cruiser, hops in
he gives chase. So now we got the Sheriff's deputy
in high speed pursuit of the Toyota pickup with the
trailer loaded down with the mini excavator and the dr
power wheelbarrow. Meanwhile, Edson, he's driving like an amateur NASCAR driver, right,
(13:31):
he's this high speed car chase reaches top speeds of
seventy five miles per hour. I'm talking over hill and
Dale Elizabeth through snowy woods like he's Robert Frost. He's
trying to get away, right. Edson's taking side roads, He's
taking dirt roads. He's like in the dukes of Hazzard.
But he like he thinks he can ditch this small
town deputy, the small down deputys like, this is not
Hazard County, and I am not Roscoe Pea coletrane Son,
(13:53):
and you damn she ain't one of the duke boys. Now,
at one point, the trailer becomes unhitched like not like
it gets divorced and it's on mayor yeah, unhitched like
it's now he is no longer connected to the truck,
except for Edson had done the due diligence before he
drove off with the stolen trailer. You see, he'd attached
the emergency chains for this exact possibility. God, yeah, in
case the trailer got undone from the pickup truck.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
For the blight.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Exactly probably most likely, I mean about it. So now
the trailer is swimming around behind his little Toyota pick
up as Edson tries like held us straight in the
curves and flatten the hills, and he loses the sheriff's
deputy on those country back roads. So I guess at
this point when he's like, okay, I ditched the deputy,
where should I go? He goes back into town. According
(14:38):
to local news reports, Edson eventually drives into the North
Hyde Park Fire Department parking lot, like like really sun anyway,
next thing you know, he drives across the lawns of
two different homes, and his whole dukes of hazard escape
plan finally ends when he crashes his Toyota truck into
a stone wall. Boom. Yeah. At this point, he hops
(14:58):
out makes a break for it. He's like, well, forget
all that stuff, wasn't my truck. Anyway, he runs through
the woods, he makes the tree line Elizabeth. He manages
to ditch the deputy again. So the deputy then calls
in the canine units. Because even this town, as small
as they were, I guess maybe a neighboring town or
maybe this town I don't know, had canine units. Dogs
are turned loose in the woods. They go off barking
(15:19):
off after him, slippery as he is. The police dogs
were successful. They catch up to Edson at this like
babbling brook, which the news stories were always keen to
point out, They're we got a babbling brook. I'm like,
is there another kind of brook, isn't there? Like yeah,
like a gossipy brook. So, once he's cornered and caught,
the deputies arrived, they handcuff them, arrest him, and know
when he's arrested, the cops find meth and suboxone in
(15:41):
his pockets. A suboxone, if you're not familiar, is typically
used as an opioid treatment for medication. However, folks can
get addicted to it since it's essentially a low grade opioid.
So at this point in the Lamielle County Superior Court,
fifty one year old Eric Edson of Burlington, Vermont now
pleads guilty on charges of grand larceny and running from
the police. He's initially given seven years behind bars. Yeah,
(16:05):
that's reduced to seventeen months in prison. Wow. Now that
was my man, Eric Edson's first time running from the law,
or at least the first time he got caught. And
that's just to introduce you to his modus operandi aka
the dukes of hazard of meth. Now, next up we'll
get into his much wilder chase. It was so epic
even the Coastguard got involved.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
What.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, but first these messages and will be back in
a bit. We're back, Elizabeth. Hey, So now and he
(16:53):
asked you another question, Yeah, what do you know about
Burlington Vermont aka home of the Burlington Kochek.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I was gonna say, is there a factory there? Wait,
that's about all I know.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Placing my finger to my ear, I'm being told that
is not correct. Burlington Cote Factory is not from Burlington, Vermont,
which I always assumed is said. The company of the
full name Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation was founded in
Burlington Township, New Jersey. So they try and play it off,
right yeaheah. They don't act like we're from New Jersey.
It's much more like we're from Vermont.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, they're trying to you know.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
The fun fact Burlington Cote Factory was founded by a librarian.
Interesting she saved up her money and decided to get
into the coke game. Hey, I don't know. I guess
a lot of coats were left in the library. She's like,
I could move these way. Back in nineteen seventy two,
Henrietta Milstein talked to her husband Monroe, into taking the
seventy five grand she'd saved up working as a librarian
(17:44):
and invested in a former factory outlet store in where
Burlington Township, New Jersey. Seventy five grand that was The
down payment for the full price for the former factory
outlet store was six hundred and seventy five thousand back
in nineteen seventy two. Whoa, Now, the first store was
the success, which led to a second store, and then
the third store and a fourth store, and you get
(18:06):
the idea of the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That's a beautiful story.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Not founded in Burlington, Vermont, as I've always assumed. So
what is Burlington, Vermont actually known for? Great question? Well,
turns out the answer is nothing. No, I can't, I can't. Burlington,
Vermont is a charmingtown. I've been through there numerous times.
For one, is the largest most populous city in the
state of Vermont, population forty seven and forty three.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Wow right wow.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
By hometown a small town Davis, California when I grew up,
and it was like fifty two thousand, and that was
like a small We're considered a college town. Yeah, yeah,
this is the most populous city in Vermont. That's according
last census data. Now, the city of Burlington, which is
its official name City of Burlington, is primarily a college town,
also home to Champlain College and the University of Vermont. Also,
(18:53):
it's a popping hub for renewable energy. I learned. Notably,
it's the first city in the US to be powered
solely by renewable energy. Go on Burlington, and at one
time it was the third largest lumber market in the world.
That was in the nineteenth century. So that's the longer
the case world. So why am I telling you this.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
All about Burlington Vermont?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Sure? Well, another great question, Elizabeth. I'm just you're coming
with your a game. Love that love your curiosity. The
reason I'm telling you about Burlington, Vermont is because that's
called setting the stage.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Oh is that what this is is? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Burlington is where Eric Edson, our Crimer the Day, is
from and where he would make his name as an
escape artist. The story goes on August twenty fourth, twenty
twenty three, Edson walks into a store. What store, the
Sierra Trading Post on five five five Shelbourne Road, come
down and visit in Burlington, Vermont. Once inside, he gets
to shopping. Trouble is, he doesn't have the funds to
(19:43):
pay for his fines. So what does he do? He
tries to walk out with the stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
We'll just put it back.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, He's like, no, no, I got it in my hands,
already really attached these just his shirt would be dope
on me. So he tries to make it out the door.
I think he got out the door because, as the
police bulletin states, quote when I see the era, a
trading post employee asked Edson to return the merchandise to
the store. Edson told the employee, dude, I'll blow your
head off. Whoa, and partially pulled an item that appeared
to be a firearm from his hooded sweatshirt pocket. So
(20:12):
apparently this employee thought to himself, I don't get paid
enough to stop this.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Well, he's pulling a gun out of the kangaroo pocket
in his hoodie. Exactly, No, were some outdoor gear.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Well, if you want to know the stolen goods, his
haul of merch it consisted of one a backpack, eleven shirts,
a pair of sneakers, a pair of socks, and a
water jug o. Yeah, definitely not worth getting your head below.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Altogether, the stolen booty was valued at a grand total
of three hundred and seventy four dollars. Yeah. So once
the employee backs off at this point, Edson runs over
to his waiting vehicle tosses in his ill gotten gains,
and then the land pirate drives off. Yeah, this is
how our story begins. Flash forward to a week later,
August thirtieth, twenty twenty three. Yeah, two officers from the
(21:00):
Burlington PD are called out to do a welfare check.
It seems someone has spotted this dude quote passed out
in a running vehicle. So now these two officers respond
to the call and they quickly locate the vehicle and
the still passed out man. Officers step out of their
patrol car. They walk over to the vehicle and I
assend like I'm imagining the tapping night stick on the window.
Sure anyway, Oh, I forgot to mention the vehicle matched
(21:22):
the description of the car using the robbery at Sierra
Trading Post a week prior.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Oh detail.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, so their officers have a reason to believe this
might be the same guy the robber who, as I
remind you, flashed what looked to be a gun. So
the Kausea cops approach. They're a little bit wary about
confronting the passed out man because he could wake up,
get scared, start blasting. However, since it is their job
to wake come up. They carefully rouse the man and
they check to see if he's still alive. Elizabeth, he
is still alive, very much alive, indeed. And when he
(21:50):
wakes up and there are two police officers staring down
at him through the window, he gets heated. No, and
I quote from the police, he became belligerent and uncoopered. So,
but that's not all. Apparently the man was no fan
of cops, so or perhaps he was worried that they
were there about the whole Sierra Trading Post incident. I
don't know what his motivation was, but what I do
know is this, since his car was already running and
(22:13):
he's now wide awake and in the driver's seat, there's
only one other thing he needs to do, which is
pressed down on that gas battle which is empty, right,
it's right there, So he puts it in gear and
he floors it. Problem was, the cops were apparently on
either side or somehow close enough to the car that,
as the police report states, quote, he fled at a
high rate of speed, assaulting both officers with the vehicle
(22:35):
and the process. So they go off their feet. And
I don't want you to worry about them. They were uninjured.
They just got knocked down, knocked back, eyes with how
I imagine it. Anyway, the cops raced back to their cruiser
and began to chase them in, but try as they might,
my old land pirate Eric Edson gets away His getaway
vehicles next spotted where he abandons it in a place
(22:57):
called the North Avenue Cooperative. Now I was thinking, oh,
this is Ramont North, I have a new cooperative. I
bet it's some like commune, like a bunch of like
aging hippies that are wrong. It was described in local
news as quote a manufactured home park in Burlington's New
North End. Okay, so I'm pretty sure that means like
in newspeak, a trailer park.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Trailer park.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah. Yeah, So anyway, the officers from Burlington PD attempt
to seize the abandoned vehicle, but while they're waiting for
the tow truck the cops they spot a man watching
them who's not too far away. He seems to me
watching them with intent. So, as you guessed it, it's
the purp Edson are police have Eric blocked his access
to what I assume is his stolen vehicle, so he
does the next best thing. He hooks it. He runs off,
(23:37):
but he doesn't run for very long because next thing
you know, he steals a bicycle and he attempts to
get away on his new hot bike. Also, it seems
he may have still had the same firearm, because multiple
eyewitnesses later claimed to have seen him brandishing the handgun.
So he's on this hot bike waving a handgun around,
like get away from me or whatever. So he's riding
around a small town on a stolen bike waving a gun.
(23:57):
Doesn't take Edson long to do the math. He realizes
he's going to get caught, so he's like, how far
can I go fling on two wheels? I'm going to
need a new getaway vehicle. Yeah, Elizabeth, you want to
guess what he steals next?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I have no idea what he could be stealing.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
For your first hint, Edson rides his stolen bike down
to a place called Apple Tree Bay. Once there, he
ditches the bike. He spots a much better getaway vehicle,
a sailboat.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Oh my god, And he's like a sailboat, not even
like a craft.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
No, No, that would be like makes too much sense.
He's like, I almost something I could live on. So
he's like time for this lampirate to take to the seas.
So that's exactly what he does. He steals the sailboat
and like Enya and the Orinoco Flow, he tries to
sail away, sail away Christopher Cross. Right. So the police
they can't just commandeer sailboats and they're like tarn it.
(24:50):
So then they do the next best thing. They contact
the coast guard. We're going to need you to bring
in somebody. And they're like, just name the boat, right, Yeah,
he's on a lady's pleasure. It's just come up. So
they asked the coast guard to catch this purp.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
It doesn't take the coast guard long to spot Edson
in his stolen sailboat. I don't know if he's like
just like like, you know, tacking incorrectly. When you run one.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Motor to get out, you know of like, uh, you
know a harbor, harbor, you.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Don't you don't go very fast, No you're not supposed to.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But it also just can't.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Then once you get out in the open seas, you
still don't go very fast.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Whole tail in a sailboat with the motor. Now, but
when the winds up and you get yeah, sure, get
some speed, but still you could be all America's cups
slicing through the water.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
It's like a coast guard cutter.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Oh no, forget about that. You know, game over.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
So they intercept him on the open seas pretty quickly
and using their coast guard boat. I don't know if
it was a coast guard cutter, but it'll say a
coast guard boat. They forced Edson to turn back for land.
They're like, go back to where you belong.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
They just like circled around in like the donuts.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
So at this point Edson is fully committed to getting away.
He's like, I've come too far. So he doesn't give up.
He damned does not the coastguard to tell him what
to do or board his stolen sailboat. So he does
head for the like what they're what they're telling him to do.
He heads for land, but he doesn't stop there. He
just runs right into land. He runs a sailboat aground.
Yeah I'm taking like I'm talking like. He smashes the
(26:16):
boat into like the base of a cliff, a place
called rock Point, which I have to assume these are
rocky cliffs, sure, because I do know that all I
know is this, I'll tell you what I do know Edson.
He can't just like run aground on sandy shores. One
there's the keel of the sailboat. I think something deep
because eventually he's forced to leap from the boat onto
wet rocks. And what we do know for sure is,
(26:36):
as the police report states he abandoned the craft.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
It's like he's going out of his way at every
step to make it worse.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
The next Edson continues on foot, he now does his
patented Edson move. He runs off into the woods, and
the one the woods that surround the cliffs at Rock Point.
So at this point, you know, it's like when in doubt,
head for the woods. That's what my daddy taught me exactly.
So at this point, officers the local Colchester Police Department
arrive on the scene to help catch this slippery purf.
(27:04):
But those officers, they're up at the top of the cliffs,
and thus they couldn't locate Edson down where he is
because he's below them and he's run into the woods.
But they can see him kind of like darting between
the trees. So they call out to him, like, hey, buddy,
where have you surrounded, come out with your hands up.
The cops trive this multiple times to quote, make contact
and start negotiations. So now we have a multi jurisdictional
(27:26):
task force of officers working the same scene. You have
the Coast guardsmen from the Coast Guard working the shore.
You have the original Burlington cops working alongside with cops
from the Colchester PD. They're soon joined by officers from
the University of Vermont PD, along with canine cops from
the Essex Police Department. Total task force. Meanwhile, the Burlington
PD turns to yet another agency for help, the Vermont
(27:48):
Department of Fish and Wildlife. Everybody, he's in the woods Elizabeth.
They're like, well, that's your jurisdiction. So, according to BPD,
as the police the latter report and their bulletin on
the ongoing manhunt, quote, it was thanks to their efforts
that BPD personnel was able to get on to shore
to search the Rock Point area. Now, altogether, with all
(28:08):
this assistance, this task force of multiple law enforcement agencies,
they still cannot find or locate Edson or apprehend him.
Even with the canine unit on the case. This time,
he's able to evade the dogs so he escapes fully
into the woods. So the police, the cops, they turned
to the public for help. They put out bulletins with
photos of Edson and they basically tell the public, if
(28:30):
you see this man, call us for now. Up to
August thirty first. One week later, the Burlington PD put
out yet another police bulletin. It's an update on their
manhunt and the update is Edson is spotted in a
neighboring town in nearby Fairfax, Vermont. Their officers informed the
public quote, police are seeking the public's help and locating
(28:52):
a man who was involved in an armed robbery and
pursued in Burlington last week. Police release surveillance photos of
Eric Edson today. The fifty two year old has wanted
for the robbery of a man on Goose Pond Road.
Edson has also wondered for the theft of multiple vehicles
in Cambridge and Fairfax. So you want to take a
guess at what new to him vehicle Edson at this
point has stolen for his prolonged flight from the law.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Stop guessing, Elizabeth, you never guess.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
I'll never guess it.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
As the Fairfax PD explained in their bulletin. Edson has
quote been most recently seen operating a full sized John
Deere tractor in the Fairfax area. No, but his means
of transportation at this point are unknown.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
He's just going for slower and slower vehicles.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
He's like, it's slow, let's wrong, I'll do it. So
he's now got this big hass green and yellow John
Deere tractor as his getaway vehicle in small town from
hot I also, I have to assume he is not
sober for most of his Did he stole a John
Dear tractor?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Tractor jack? Somebody like out there in the field just
shoved him off.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
No.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I think he came upon like a basically a house
and he saw the tractor was just sitting at jack
up on a guy get off the track, shoves him off,
his hand in his pouch pocket for his exactly stealing
a full sized tractor. That just smacks of being high
as hell. In my book, that's methad logic, right. And
it's not like he's gonna steal a tractor and be
(30:12):
like I'm going to make a run for the Canadian border.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Now, there's no logic to any of them.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
None whatsoever. You cannot find a path to loge.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
I want to stop and say, now, honestly, how do
you think this is going to play out?
Speaker 2 (30:23):
I shouldn't be laughing, But apparently the police chief of Burlington,
John Murrad, knew that people would be laughing because he
came forward to warn the public that quote. Because of
the unusualness of mister Edson's various modes of flight, from
cars to bikes, to paddle boards, to sailboats to tractors,
it's easy to lose sight of the fact that mister
Edson is a dangerous person. Don't you laugh?
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Guys, He's silly, but he's dangerous.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, he's still likely ar yeah, his packet. He also,
by the way, the gun could be a water gun.
Nobody has seen him fire it or even really get ready.
You know, it could just be like, hey, I got
a gun. It could could be a toy gun. Who knows. Anyway,
So we have this dude probably flying high on math,
possibly armed with the fire arm, possibly arm with the
water gun, whatever, stealing whatever he can go that goes slowly. Yeah,
So and to go where where is he trying to get?
(31:07):
To question? Well, because you know I joked earlier about
making a run for the border. Yeah, but it's not
like he was actually close to the Canadian border where
they are in Vermont. It's like sixty miles, like fifty
to seventy miles, So i'll say sixty miles away. That's
a bit of a drive on a John Deere tractor.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
That is.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Now, that's like a plot of like a movie, you know,
trying to make the run for the border.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
You have to stop and fill up that tank right now.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
The next update the please share with the public is
that Edson's still at large, is driving around the area,
but he'd stolen a new vehicle. Oh no, don't worry.
I won't make you guess this time. I'll just tell
you what it is. Or rather I'll let the Burlington
and Fairfax pd tell you. According to the latest bulletin
on the ongoing man hunt, Edson had stolen yet another
slow moving get away vehicle, as a Burlington DPD put
(31:50):
it quote. Surveillance footage showed Edson on Goose Pond Road
in Fairfax on Wednesday. One image shows him approaching the
door of her residence. The second shows him operating a
stolen dump truck. A dump truck Elizabeth, he's now harmed
in dangerous hi giraffe eyebrows driving a stolen dump truck
around the backwards of Vermont.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
You gotta give him credit, though they haven't caught him yet.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Right, it's apparently working. So how far can he possibly
get in a stolen dump truck? And what is he
going to steal next? Well, rather than tell you that,
I'd like you to close your eyes and I'd like
you to picture it. It's a calm Thursday in September,
September seventh, twenty twenty three, to be exact. And you, Elizabeth,
(32:35):
are working as a game warden for the Vermont Department
of Fish and Wildlife. It's early afternoon, just after lunchtime
for lunch, you enjoyed one of those bowls of ruffage
you like rabbit food your coworkers like to call it. Anyway,
Just after you finish your rabbit food lunch, your radio
squawks to light A tip has been called in. The
notorious land pirate Eric Edson has been spotted all no
(32:55):
longer driving the stolen dump truck. You hear the report
that he's been seeing on the Lambiel River paddling what's
presumed to be a stolen kayak. You know you're not
that far from the river, so you run to your truck,
fired up and head over to the location where Edson
was last spotted. When you arrived there, there's a makeshift
task force of multiple law enforcement agencies in their vehicles.
There's all kinds of cop cars from neighboring towns parked
(33:18):
alongside trucks from your co workers at the Vermont Department
of Fish and Wildlife. You hop out and use your
radio to find out the latest. Your radio squawks again
with a report back. Edson is still on the river.
You head down to the water's edge, not far from
Vermont Route one oh four A, and you stomp your
way through the underbrush of twigs and summer dried leaves.
You hear someone a splashing in the river. When you
(33:39):
break through the woods, you spot it there. He is
paddling like hell, headed up river. You call out to him, Eric, Edson,
we have you surrounded. Edson spins around on a kayak
and spots you on the northern bank of the river.
Then he cranes his neck around the other way. It
sees all kinds of cops pushing through the woods on
the southern bank of the river. He decides to chance
it on your side. He paddles towards you on the
(34:02):
northern bank. You snake through the trees and try to
catch up to him before he can disappear again into
the woods. You call out again, Edson, freeze, you're under arrest.
That's about as useless as bring an all beef franks
to a vegan pot. Look Edson sets foot on dry
land and immediately starts running. You give chase. The twigs
and leaves sound beneath your hiking boots. You're far faster
(34:22):
than he expects you are. You draw within about twenty
feet of him to get away. He decides to double
back for the river. He stops running when he reaches
a wide flat rock at the river shore. He turns
back and yells, oh innocent. You look at him like
Tommy Lee Jones, and you coolly tell him I don't care.
In response, he turns towards the river and he jumps
off the wide flat rock with a mighty splash. He
(34:45):
drops back into the river. Then he attempts to slim across.
You watch from the shore as he tries to make
it across that wide, slow moving river. He does make
it on the southern bank. He crawls out, sopping wet.
He waves back at you and then disappears into the woods.
You can hear the cops on the other side as
they spot them, and they release the dogs. Moments later,
you're radio squawks to life again. Eric Heedsen has been
(35:08):
caught near the Georgia Mountain Road. You may not have
caught him, but you're damn sure glad you did your
part to bring in the most wanted man, the ever
slippery Eric Edson. Nice work, game Ward and Elizabeth, thank you.
As soon as he's busted, Eric Edson requests a medical evaluation.
That means fire and rescue. You have to come out.
And now we got a larger task force. Members of
(35:29):
the Milton Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office
I just keep naming. They're also on the scene to
provide support when Edson's taken into custody. Not to mention
the Colchester and the Essex Police departments who also dispatched
resources to assist. What a chase. It was like the fugitive,
except in your case. Eventually, you and all these cops
and game Wards and Coast guardsmen, you all finally get
(35:51):
your man. So let's take a little break and now
he's been caught. Catch a breather, and when we get back,
we'll find out what justice looks like for a land
pirate in Vermont. That look like we're back, Elizabethaber. You
(36:23):
ready to hear how this mad methkaper comes to a
tiger close? Yes, well, now that Eric Edson is caught,
what does justice look like? Well? Edson goes to court
the very next day, on Friday, just one day after
all you apprehended him, and just like he said to you,
he denies it was him. I'm innocent, as the local
headlines proclaimed, armed robbery suspect who evaded police for a
week denies charges in court, which makes perfect sense. I
(36:46):
mean he's facing multiple charges. Of course, you know he's
going to do his best impression of the singer Shaggy
and say it wasn't me.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
He's got to have a public defender, and they're always
pushing for just kind of deals.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Oh pretty much. So when he's standing there in the
Crittenden County Superior County Criminal Court, Edson enters a not
guilty plea at his arraignment. The charges he's facing, by
the way, are assault for how he tossed the two
cops from the wellness check sure when he first fled.
And then also he's got the original robbery charges from
the Sierra Trading Post and forget that which involved a
weapon allegedly, right, and then you have to add in
(37:19):
all of the stolen vehicles. For instance, Elizabeth. For just
the stolen sailboat, Edson faced quote two counts of unauthorized
use of a boat and three counts of careless and
negligent operation of a vessel as the result of the
alleged theft of a sailboat. Yeah, so he's facing multiple
charges just from the seilboat. And then you add in
the stolen bike, the stolen John Dear tractor, don't forget
the dump truck. Each of those separate charges with the
(37:41):
related driving charges anytime he got he was He's not
like he was speeding, but you know, reckless endangerment. Of course,
there's also the charges for running from the law. Naturally,
the judge recognizes that Edson is what we call a
clear flight risk. Yeah, that's his whole mo. So the
judge orders have held without bail. Edson gets locked up
the north West State Correctional Facility in Saint Albans, Vermont.
(38:03):
Perhaps his time behind bars allows him to like sober up.
I don't know, but he eventually realizes what sort of
time he's going to be facing. So because he recants,
he's not guilty, plead Instead, Edson takes a plea deal.
Like you said, he gets offered a pleae deal. Yeah,
but that was just the local charges. Edson was still
facing federal charges Coastcard.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
So you see, the day after he was first caught,
a federal grand jury had been convened, and the federal
grand jury returned to simple one count indictment based on
the Hobbes Act. What's well, on November eighth, he settles
those federal charges because he accepted an offer from the
US Attorney's office that was to settle the charges that
he violated the Hobbs Act. And as you are wondering, Zaren,
what the heck is the Hobbs Act, I asked the
(38:44):
bust question the absolute best. I'm really glad you asked,
because according to the Department of Justice, the Hobbs Act
quote is prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting
interstate or foreign commerce. Maybe maybe wondering how does that
apply in this instance? Well, luckily the DOJ helpfully explains
on its website. Although the Hobs Act was enacted as
(39:05):
a statute to combat racketeering and labor management disputes, the
statute is frequently used in connection with cases involving public corruption,
commercial disputes, violent criminals and street gangs, and corruption directed
at members of labor unions.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
And I still am not seeing how that.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
I'm guessing Edson qualifies as a violent criminal because at
the Sierra Trading Post having been gone, it starts us
all off. Or perhaps he's a one man street gang.
Who knows, or perhaps the maybe the Sierra Trading Post
was a member for labor union this was I don't know.
But in response to his plea deal in December of
twenty twenty three, Edson was convicted and sentenced to four
(39:44):
years in federal prison with a subsequent three years of
supervised release, which means he got less time for this
one than the first one I told you about.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Oh yeah, it is justice.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
And so ends the mad Methkaper of the Land Pirate.
The Burlington bandit. So what's a ridiculous takeaway here, Elizabeth.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Let's see, I think stay off drugs.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
That's a good one.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
And always you always have to think through like what
am I seeking here? What relief do I seek? Or
what outcome am I seeking?
Speaker 2 (40:17):
And I'm just.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Really curious, like if you were to sit him down
and try and get him clear headed and say, how
do you see this completely playing out?
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Yeah? No, totally. I don't think he's the endgame. I
don't think he ever had one. I mean based on
his like, oh, I'm going to steal the dump truck,
I'm a steal a tractor. I think he was very
much as you know some of like the life coaches
that some of the Buddhists might say is live in
the moment. He was very much living in the moment.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Well, and as I harp on impulse control, yes, he
has zero.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Slow and low. It is the tempo.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Well, it's like the thought crosses his mind and he
just does it. There's zero impulse control. So his impulse
is I have to run. I have to get away.
They can't catch me.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, can't get caught again? Are you going back?
Speaker 1 (40:58):
So there's a boat, so.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Yeah, exactly. And also sailboats that seems fun.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
You know who doesn't like them?
Speaker 2 (41:04):
The other ones run out again, this doesn't run out
of wind.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
That's right, I can just go forever, Zaren, what's your
ridiculous Oh thank you for asking?
Speaker 2 (41:11):
What day is it? My birthday is? Wow. Well, since
you're interested, I will say this, how many Keystone cops
in Vermont did it take to catch him? How many
agencies did I list off? I mean I lost track personally,
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Human hours dedicated to this one right goofball?
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Like, I'm just I was blown away, like how many?
Like I'm like, you guys like there's like thirty five
cops involved, maybe seventy five. I have no idea. This
is a ridiculous number. And then you guys are still
like it took them weeks to catch up.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
That's what I can.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
And these are small towns. It's like, can you just
like cordon off the parts of the streets and be like, Okay,
I know he's in the woods and stuff, but I mean, like.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Honestly, if he were down in the South.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
It would have shot him. No, they had when I lived.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Down there, on the news, when people would do these
sort of things. They drag their mama out and the
mom wol you got to come in. You got to
come in. You cannot do this. You are hurting me,
you are hurting our family. And then like you know,
the next day he turns himself in.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I like that. We both went into junior immediately. You
just know exactly that is so true though, this is
exactly what would happened in this out. They would they
pull out mama and she a big, big mob either
one whoever's living, and he's the oldest woman in the family, right,
and she's gonna like shame him for what he's done and.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Tell him like this, this ain't right. You have got
to come home. You've got to turn yourself in.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
And nine times nine times it's amazing. So you in
the mood for a talkback and watch this all down
talkbacks pretucerd can you favor us with one? Oh my god,
because I love ge.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
Hell over, dude. Just someone goes out to a visit.
But check out the Note Gallery. It has everything from
art forgeries and how do you say cucumber. Alec Baldwin
did a podcast on.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
It, and the art director of the gallery who only
bought the forged painting because it had a signature that
misspelled Jackson Pollock's name.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
Check it out, love you guys.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Bye, Oh my god, that's incredible typo.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
But is that legal protection?
Speaker 3 (43:26):
You know?
Speaker 2 (43:26):
It's like, oh, this is Jackson.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Pollack Colick Pollick. Yeah, that actually could that's good cover?
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Right? Is it a crime off by one letter? Go?
I love it well as always. You can find us
online Ridiculous Crime on social media that's mostly Instagram and
blues Guide. On Instagram you can find pictures of all
the crimes we talk about and other delectable bits. And
on blue Sky you can find uh, you know, the
good links. So there you go. And also we have
our account Ridiculous Crime Pod on YouTube. There you see
(43:57):
a really cool version of animated version and not of
the story, but of us telling the story. Yeah, and
we have our website ridiculous Crime dot com, which I
believe is up for a Nobel Peace Prize. Don't tell
the President. Yes. Finally, and obviously we love your talkback,
(44:17):
so please go download the iHeart app, download it, leave
us a talkback and maybe hear your voice here. We'd
love to hear it. And also you can email us
if you want Everydiculous Crime at gmail dot comb. Thank
you for listening. We will catch you next crime. Ridiculous Crime.
(44:38):
It is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaron Burnette, produced
and edited by the light Fingered Fellow of Providence, Rhode Island,
Dave Kustin, and starring Annalis Rucker as who. The research
is by the ever fleet footed riverboat Pirate Marissa Brown
and the water running Jesus Liver Jabbari Davis. Our theme
song is by a resident house band, the Hans Zimmer
who stole the keys to Mobima Thomas and Travis Dunton.
(45:01):
The host wardrobe provided by Body five hundred. Guest hair
and makeup by Sparkleshot and mister Andre. Executive producers are
Atlanta's Most Wanted, The Perfectly Purloined Purpose, Ben Bolin and
Mowling Brown.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Pdicous Cry Say It.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
One More Time Giquious Cry. Ridiculous Crime is a production
of iHeartRadio.
Hosts And Creators
Zaron Burnett
Elizabeth Dutton
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