BENNINGTON — A local man appearing at the Bennington County Courthouse to answer a violation of probation charge stemming from a traffic stop was ordered held without bail after word came of an arrest warrant from New York.

New York Police Department detectives alerted Bennington Police of a just-issued extraditable warrant for the arrest of Mitchell Maldonado, 32, on charges he fled the scene of a hit-and-run on March 3 in Coney Island after at least one individual died, with another rushed to the hospital.

Maldonado walked into the courthouse Monday afternoon expecting to be arraigned on a parole violation after Bennington Police cited him early Sunday morning for drinking and harassment, which violated his parole condition of no alcohol consumption. He was also under court order not to harass the victim in the plea case last year. Maldonado was issued a citation that ordered him to appear Monday.

The parole Maldonado served was from a 2022 plea deal where he pleaded guilty to extortion and other charges, including threatening a woman with a gun twice in one day.

Maldonado was already on Bennington Police radar after the department received a request by NYPD detectives to locate Maldonado’s red Chevrolet pickup truck, allegedly involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Brooklyn in early March. Bennington PD located the truck several weeks ago, impounded the vehicle as evidence, and held it before NYPD detectives removed the truck back to New York for analysis during their investigation.

According to a New York Post article, the day after the incident, a woman, Tamika Richards, 41, and her 18-year-old son were critically injured as they crossed Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island at approximately 8:50 p.m. The female was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The teenager was also rushed to the hospital in critical condition. It is not known whether the teen survived. The driver of the pickup, according to eyewitnesses, then sped off.

According to a police source, there are currently two charges of leaving the scene with death resulting pending against Maldonado from New York. The department’s Public Information Bureau had not responded to the Banner’s request for that information before press time.

Maldonado initially appeared in the back of the courtroom to answer the citation on his own. Moments later, Vermont parole officials took Maldonado into custody on the charge and the warrant from New York. He was then seen in handcuffs and leg irons in the company of probation and Bennington police as he was escorted to the defense table, where he pleaded not guilty to the violation of probation charge. Bennington police were officially at the courthouse to participate in the fugitive investigation out of New York City.

Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady ordered Maldonado held without bail on the parole violation, citing the pending charges in New York and the court’s discretion in favor of public safety.

Maldonado slumped in his seat at the defense table, his head hanging down onto his chest. He covered his face as he was escorted from the courtroom, still wearing his street clothes.

At a hearing scheduled for Friday the court will consider whether Maldonado will continue to be held in custody, as well as the status of this case and several other pending cases. New York has officially placed a request to hold and extradite him when possible. Maldonado faces a maximum of seven years behind bars on each of the pending New York charges when and if he is extradited.

Maldonado was initially charged in Vermont last year with six crimes, including leaving the scene of another crash, giving false information to a law enforcement officer to implicate another person, and stalking. In the 2022 plea agreement with prosecutors, Maldonado pleaded guilty to three — extortion, domestic assault and violations of conditions of release — with three other charges dismissed.

Bennington Superior Judge Cortland Corsones sentenced Maldonado to two to five years, with four months to serve in prison and a three-year probation. Maldonado had been locked up at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland since his arrest in January 2022. He was released in late May after serving his time.

According to police documents, on Jan. 17, Maldonado came to a woman’s home twice in one night with a handgun, making numerous threats while five young children were inside. He was initially charged with leaving the scene of an accident for an earlier offense in December when he allegedly rammed his car into a utility pole and fled the scene.

In addition, Maldonado has numerous other pending charges in Bennington County, including violating an abuse prevention order, two counts of burglary into an occupied building, unlawful mischief, stalking, and aggravated assault, all of which were not part of the plea deal. Those charges are still pending and will be handled in the future.

According to a police affidavit, he also has a criminal history at the New York state and federal levels. Maldonado was indicted with several others in 2015 for trafficking guns and drugs from Manhattan and The Bronx into Bennington. Prosecutor Jared Bianchi also mentioned a possible federal parole involving Maldonado. No further confirmation was found relating to any Federal charges.

As he awaits the next hearing, Maldonado is currently being held at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland.