RUTLAND — Appearing in court via video from a Rutland jail Thursday afternoon, Daniel Banyai wore a baggy red shirt and a swollen black eye as he was arraigned on a charge of aggravated assault.
The charge stemmed from an altercation with a Pawlet constable who was attempting to arrest Banyai on Wednesday, according to court documents.
During the brief court hearing, Banyai’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his client’s behalf. Rutland Superior Court Judge Cortland Corsones deemed Banyai a flight risk and ordered him held on $15,000 bail.
Banyai is expected to remain at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility until he posts bail on the assault charge, and until his Pawlet property is found to be in compliance with Environmental Court orders that led to the arrest warrant for contempt of court.
Banyai, owner of the controversial paramilitary style gun range Slate Ridge in Pawlet, has terrified his neighbors and drawn the ire of the town during a years-long legal battle over zoning violations on his property.
An affidavit filed by Vermont State Police Trooper Jonathan Hall detailed an account from the Pawlet Constable who arrested Banyai, Tom Covino, describing the traffic stop and alleged assault during Banyai’s arrest.
According to Covino, Banyai was a passenger in a truck that was stopped for speeding on Route 30 in Pawlet at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Covino recognized Banyai and informed him of the active arrest warrant pending against him before instructing Banyai to get out of the truck. In response, Banyai called Covino a “dirty cop” and “refused to comply” with the orders, according to Covino’s account.
“After repeated attempts to get Daniel to exit the vehicle failed, I informed him that I was going to administer pepper spray to him in order to gain compliance,” Covino wrote in his statement.
“He postured up in the passenger seat, removing his seat belt, leaning in an aggressive manner towards me,” Covino wrote, later describing Banyai making a “fist” at him while yelling.
“It is unclear if Daniel struck me first on my left side of my head or I administered my pepper spray first,” Covino wrote. The constable said he experienced bruising on his left temple as a result of the “initial strike,” which he described as a seven out of 10 on a pain scale.
“Daniel then swung again, I opened the door from the inside handle. At this time a scuffle ensued between myself and Daniel,” Covino wrote.
The constable then handcuffed Banyai.
“At Daniel’s request, (I) attempted to decontaminate Daniel’s face for pepper spray exposure,” Covino wrote.
Photos included in the affidavit show bruising on Covino’s fingers and a red mark on the left side of his head from the altercation.
The driver of the car was identified by Covino as David Brodsky, according to court documents. Brodsky was identified in a New Yorker story as having supported Banyai financially. He reportedly owns land near Pawlet.
The affidavit filed in court described Banyai allegedly committing aggravated assault, assault on a protected professional, and resisting arrest. Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan, the lead prosecutor, said the state decided to charge Banyai with aggravated assault, with an enhancement of preventing a law enforcement officer from fulfilling their duties, rather than filing separate charges.
Sullivan argued Thursday that Banyai should be held on bail and, if released, face a 24-hour curfew.
Chris Davis, with the Rutland County Public Defender’s Office, represented Banyai on Thursday. Banyai did not speak during the arraignment.
Corsones, the judge, ultimately issued the bail, saying Banyai “poses a risk of flight,” but said the Pawlet resident would be subject to only a nighttime curfew at his Slate Ridge property following his release from jail. Regardless, Banyai is expected to remain in jail until his property is compliant with Environmental Court orders that he dismantle unpermitted structures.
A status conference in the aggravated assault case is scheduled for June 3.
History of legal battles comes to a head
Banyai’s years-long legal saga with the town of Pawlet over zoning violations on his property has garnered attention nationwide.
Banyai bought his property in West Pawlet in 2013 and opened Slate Ridge in 2017.
Alleging that the activities and structures on his property violated town bylaws, Pawlet issued Banyai a notice of violation in 2019.
In March 2021, Thomas Durkin, the environmental court judge, issued an order that required Banyai to close Slate Ridge and remove unpermitted structures on his property
From there, the legal battle only escalated, as Banyai failed to comply with court orders demanding he dismantle unpermitted structures on his property.
By February 2023, still out of compliance, a judge threatened Banyai with jail time, eventually issuing an arrest warrant, also called a mittimus, in July. Meanwhile, lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott approved a law banning paramilitary training camps, in part inspired by the Slate Ridge debacle.
Despite the arrest warrant, Banyai remained a free man, and the order expired in September 2023, only for it to be renewed indefinitely in December after an inspection of Slate Ridge determined the property was still out of compliance with court orders.
Ignoring an order to turn himself in to authorities, Banyai evaded Vermont State Police and the Rutland County Sheriff’s Office for months, with both agencies reporting repeated checks on the fugitive’s Pawlet property. Perhaps, authorities said, he’d left the state.
Three months after the warrant was reissued, the Pawlet constable arrested Banyai mere miles from Slate Ridge.