Great Barrington – Former Sheffield Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman and Great Barrington Fairground developer Bart Elsbach was arrested and charged Monday night with one count of vandalizing property — a felony in Massachusetts.
Great Barrington Police charged Elsbach, 53, with spray painting dollar signs, other markings, and an expletive on equipment owned by Sheffield-based Joe Wilkinson Excavating. He was released on $40 bail.
Elsbach was arraigned Thursday (November 13) in Southern Berkshire District Court in Great Barrington, and given a “further arraignment” continuance so he could have his attorney present, according to the Court Clerk’s Office. A court date is set for December 4, 2014.
Elsbach retained attorney Leonard Cohen from Pittsfield legal firm Cohen, Kinne, Valenti and Cook, LLP, according to firm attorney Chris Hennessey. Cohen did not return calls for comment.
Bart Elsbach at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds during an early cleanup session. Photo: David Scribner
Wilkinson’s equipment was parked in Great Barrington at the top of Taconic Avenue and Barrington Place, and at the intersection of Taconic and West Avenue in front of the Oakwood Condominiums. Kevin Wilkinson said the company is working on the replacement of a water main that dates back to the 1890s.
According to the police report, a Barrington Place resident returning home from work between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. told police she saw someone standing in front of the small excavator parked near Taconic Avenue, and thought it odd. The witness said she “looped around the block,” and made another pass. The suspect, she said, “ducked behind the excavator.” The witness entered Barrington Place from the other direction, and as she approached Taconic Avenue, the suspect “got into a wagon” which was located in front of the excavator.” The witness took down the license plate number and called the police.
The police report “case history” states that the wagon was a grey 2012 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Station Wagon, and traced the make and plates to “a Bart Elsbach of 1554 Boardman St. in Sheffield.” The officer noted that this address was “extremely close to where Joe Wilkinson Excavating is located, also on Boardman Street…”
Elsbach and Joe Wilkinson Excavating are neighbors.
The witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, described the suspect as “a white person, thought to be male, medium height, slender build, wearing a baseball cap, leather — solid brownish color — jacket and jeans…acting funny around the construction equipment parked at the bottom of our street.”
When officers arrived, they said they smelled fresh spray paint and saw a dollar sign painted on the large excavator on Taconic Avenue. They continued up to Barrington Place and saw “son” in “Wilkinson” crossed out on a roller, an expletive on the small excavator and a dollar sign on its windshield, all in black spray paint.
The dollar sign stayed onto the cab of a Wilkinson excavator. Photo: Heather Bellow.
Kevin Wilkinson confirmed with police by phone that there had been no grafitti on the equipment when he had finished working and left the equipment earlier in the day.
“A few minutes later,” the report said, a Sheffield officer told the police he had located the Volkswagen in the driveway of the registered owner, and that the “vehicle’s hood was still warm,” noting that it was “around 40 degrees out at this time.”
Police further contacted Kevin Wilkinson by phone to ask if there had been any “previous history or issues between his family or the business, and Elsbach or any of his relatives.” Wilkinson said there had not been any, and that “Elsbach resided directly across the street from their shop.”
The officer went to the Elsbach residence and spoke with him and another officer in his driveway. The report noted a physical and clothing description similar to what the witness reported. Elsbach told the officers he had recently returned from a meeting at the Fairgrounds, and gave the officers the name of whom he had met with, but they did not mention it in the report. “Further I noted it strange to have an outdoor meeting regarding projects that concluded at approximately 9:45 pm when it was dark out at 5 p.m.,” the report said. Elsbach said he had to return there for reasons having to do with “the tops to some rustoleum paint cans…from a project that they were working on.” The officer said Elsbach had a rustoleum paint can in his car, but in gray rather than the black paint seen on the Wilkinson’s equipment.
An expletive sprayed on the back of another machine.
Elsbach then stated that he “had not been in the area of Taconic avenue, nor anywhere near Wilkinson equipment…that he had not caused any damage…that he does not have issues with the Wilkinson family…that he does not use [Wilkinson’s] for business purposes and has not had any neighborly property disputes with them, other than Elsbach’s animals will wander into their yards.”
The officer asked Elsbach to go with him to see the witness in what is known as a “show up,” as the officer said he had probable cause to arrest him, the report states. Elsbach then asked if he could “tuck his children into bed,” and the officer allowed it, then escorted Elsbach back into Great Barrington for the show up. After 15 to 20 minutes, the report said, the officer noted that Elsbach returned to his driveway wearing a jacket with a green stripe. Elsbach asked if he could talk to the witness and the Wilkinson’s rather than “dealing with the police.”
The report said Elsbach, while in the cruiser, received a cell phone call from his wife, who had spoken to an attorney who “advised him not to do the show up or answer any additional questions.” The officer told Elsbach he had to do the show up, that he would not further question him, and placed him under arrest for Vandalism.
Handcuffed, Elsbach stood near an excavator with his back facing the witness, and cruiser headlights for light, according to the narrative in the police report. Because she said she had only seen the suspect from behind, the witness said she could not “positively identify [the suspect], but the general physical feature was the same…” The witness told officers “she knew Elsbach from other interactions, and just realized it was Elsbach she just saw” in the show up.
The report continues that Elsbach was booked and later released on his own recognizance and $40 bail, which his wife Janet paid when she picked him up. The report says Kevin Wilkinson contacted the officer to tell him that at around 6 a.m. the following morning, “Elsbach was waiting in the driveway for them. While Elsbach did not directly admit to any crimes to the Wilkinson’s, he did state…he knew he was not supposed to be there talking to them, but he was up all night thinking about things and wanted to make things right with them. He stated that he has known them and their children for many years and wanted to meet with them later in the week to make things right.”
As Chairman of the ZBA, Elsbach was a vocal opponent of the Dollar Store franchise in Sheffield that is now near completion. Joe Wilkinson Excavating worked on the Store’s site.
When asked by phone if she had seen the suspect with a spray paint can or spraying the equipment, the witness said she did not, but referred to the police report.
The witness, who declined to be identified, further stated that she was “really surprised” at what she called “uncharacteristic behavior.”
“We’ve known the Elsbach’s for a very long time and have always known them to be wonderful, great people,” she said.
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