Banyai was arrested by the same Pawlet constable he’s charged with assaulting
By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger
Daniel Banyai, 51, was arrested Monday, Sept. 9, for violating conditions of release on his pending felony charge of aggravated assault against a police officer, according to a press release by Pawlet Constable Thomas Covino.
Covino is the same officer whom Banyai is charged with assaulting in March 2024.
According to the release, police received information around 5:15 a.m. on Aug. 28 that Banyai was in New York, even though his conditions of release at the time required him to stay in Vermont except for legal obligations in New York.
“Following up on this information police observed Banyai at a Chinese restaurant in New York,” the release stated. “Further investigation revealed Banyai had been in New York at Dunkin Donuts on more than one occasion which is also a violation of his [conditions of] release.”
Banyai, who owned the controversial paramilitary style gun range Slate Ridge in Pawlet, was engaged in a tumultuous multi-year legal battle with the town over unpermitted structures on his property prior to his arrest. In March, Covino took him into custody on an active warrant. Banyai is alleged to have assaulted the constable during the traffic stop that led to his arrest.
Police issued Banyai a citation through his attorney “to appear in Rutland district court at a later date,” according to the release.
Court documents indicate that prior to Banyai’s latest arrest for violating conditions, his attorney requested the court change his conditions of release.
According to a motion dated Aug. 15 but filed with the court on Aug. 30, Banyai’s lawyer, Christopher Davis, asked the court to allow his client to reside at an address in Port Washington, New York, more than 200 miles away from his Pawlet address. There, he’d maintain a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.
The change would “accurately reflect [Banyai’s] post-release living situation and need for access to ongoing medical care,” Davis wrote, adding that Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan, who is representing the state in the case against Banyai, did not object to the change.
Vermont Superior Court Judge Cortland Corsones agreed to modify Banyai’s conditions of release in an order dated Sept. 3.
Sullivan could not be immediately reached for comment regarding whether his office would pursue charging Banyai with violating conditions. Davis, Banyai’s lawyer, could not be immediately reached by phone or email.
