Millerton man held for multiple crimes in two states

 MILLERTON — The recent string of crimes that has affected the village of Millerton and the town of North East has now threaded its way eastward into Connecticut.

Connecticut State Police believe that 20-year-old Millerton resident Dustin Holst-Grubbe was involved in a home invasion and shooting that occurred in Bridgewater on Thursday, Aug. 4, at roughly 3:40 a.m.

Holst-Grubbe was also arrested by the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday, Aug. 7. He is accused of having burglarized the Oakhurst Diner on Main Street in Millerton on Wednesday, Aug. 3. 

Holst-Grubbe reportedly turned himself in to the Amenia Sheriff’s Office Substation on Aug. 7 on the burglary charges. 

He was charged with burglary in the third degree and remanded to Dutchess County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond. 

Holst-Grubbe is the prime suspect in the Bridgewater incident and was reportedly “involved in multiple crimes throughout these jurisdictions.”

Those crimes allegedly include breaking into the diner, stealing motor vehicles and the Connecticut home invasion.

According to Capt. John Watterson of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, “the motive does appear to be drug related.”

The Connecticut State Police sent out a news release last week saying that on Aug. 4, 64-year-old Victor Compe received a gunshot wound to his upper body and was treated at Danbury Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. 

The police said that Holst-Grubbe, with a shotgun in his possession, tried to enter the home of Compe and his wife, Samantha Moore, and then ran off into the nearby woods. Troopers from Troop A Southbury, State Police K-9s and State Police Tactical Unit members, assisted by officers from the Brookfield Police Department, searched the wooded area for a “light-skinned or Hispanic male” who fled before authorities arrived at the scene.

As the search continued, police were told by a resident in the vicinity that his Ford Econoline van had been stolen from his Bridgewater driveway. Shortly after, the van was located in nearby Waterbury. 

A black BMW, reported stolen from Middletown on Aug. 3 or 4, was also discovered at the same Waterbury location.

A green Subaru Forester that was reported stolen from Millerton the night of Aug. 3 or 4 was located at the Bridgewater home.

 The police believe that the two stolen vehicles discovered in Waterbury are linked to the home invasion in Bridgewater. 

Multiple warrants have been prepared by the Connecticut State Police, the Middletown Police Department and the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office for the crimes committed in their respective jurisdictions. 

Holst-Grubbe is currently being held in New York but, according to Watterson (of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office), Holst-Grubbe will soon be extradited to Connecticut.

There, he will face charges of home invasion, assault of an elderly person, assault in the first degree with a deadly weapon, stealing a firearm, burglary in the first degree, burglary in the third degree, larceny in the second degree, larceny in the third degree and credit card theft. Bond was set at $1 million.

Anyone with information regarding the Connecticut crimes is asked to call the Connecticut authorities at 203-267-2200 or to text TIP711 with information to 274637. All calls will be kept confidential.

Anyone with information about the break-in at the Oakhurst Diner is asked to contact Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Detective Tom Cuddeback at 845-486-3820.