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Ezra Miller Pleads Not Guilty To Vermont Burglary, Petit Larceny Over Alleged Liquor Theft
Prosecutors allege the "Flash" actor entered a former friend's home in rural Vermont without permission, stole alcohol and trashed the man's pantry.
Ezra Miller appeared — via video — in a Vermont court on Monday to plead not guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor petit larceny charges.
Miller, 30, was charged with burglary on Aug. 7 for an alleged incident that occurred in May, and the petit larceny charges (for theft under $900) were added thereafter. They have been out on their own recognizance and the condition that they not contact the residents of the allegedly burglarized property or set foot on the site. (Miller goes by they/them pronouns.)
State troopers were called about a home in Stamford — a small southern Vermont town with a population of less than 1,000 — on May 1 after the homeowner, Isaac B. Winokur, 33, reported a burglary.
According to court documents, Winokur told police that his surveillance system alerted him when Miller entered the property without permission, and he said he then watched the actor take three bottles of liquor, the Bennington Banner reported.
Miller is allegedly seen on the video handing the three liquor bottles to someone in a waiting vehicle. Other clips allegedly show the actor picking up a fourth bottle, spotting another surveillance camera and then putting it back.
Winokur told police that he and Miller had been friends for 18 years, but that their behavior had become "odd and erratic" and the two were no longer on good terms. He added that he was concerned about the burglary because of Miller's recent behavior and firearm ownership.
The troopers who responded to the report on May 2 reported that the living room was a mess, there were cigarettes and lighters on the floor and several items in the pantry had been left discarded on the area's floor, the Banner reported.
Police interviewed Miller in June, VTDigger reported, and the actor told police that they had taken vinegar and cooking wine from the property to give to their mother, who had allegedly asked Winokur for permission. (Miller's representative told Vanity Fair for a September profile that Miller had taken rice wine and a bottle of wine from Winokur, described as a childhood friend who decided he didn't want to still be friends without informing Miller.)
Miller's mother allegedly denied knowing her child had gone into Winokur's home but said it wasn't previously uncommon for the two friends to enter each other's homes unannounced, the Banner reported.
She also allegedly told police at some point in June that Miller was at a rehab facility "out west" after troopers were subsequently unable to make contact with him about the burglary, the Banner reported.
On Aug. 15, the actor announced that they were seeking treatment for "complex mental health issues."
Vanity Fair reported that the Vermont Department for Children and Families filed an emergency order on Aug. 5 — two days before the burglary charges were announced — to remove three children from the custody of their mother Ana on Miller's property. Friends who visited in May told Vanity Fair that the three kids, ages 1, 4 and 5, were running around a house filled with unsecured guns and ammunition, and that they witnessed the 1-year-old girl pick up and put a bullet in her mouth.
Rolling Stone reported at the time that police thought Miller seemed to be trying to evade service of the order, claiming the woman hadn't lived there in two months (though she had been posting Instagram videos allegedly from the property in mid July). It was during one of those visits that Miller was served with the burglary charges.
In Vanity Fair, the father of Ana's children, a Hawaiian man, claimed that Miller — accompanied by teen activist Tokata Iron Eyes, 18, whose relationship with Miller has also been the subject of scrutiny — met his polyamorous family at a farmer's market in Hilo in March and moved in with them, eventually suggesting they "merge" families. Miller then suddenly left with Ana and her children in April, about two weeks after moving in. The father allegedly hadn't spoken to his kids since, though a custody hearing in the case was scheduled for October in Hawaii.
Ana and her kids were living at Miller's Vermont house as of mid-April.
Ana alleged in an Instagram Live from Miller's that, before leaving Hawaii, she had been stripping and using OnlyFans to pay bills, Vanity Fair reported. She told Rolling Stone in June that Miller's home was "a healing haven" and claimed the weapons were "stored in a part of the house that the children never go in."
The father told Rolling Stone that he filed for custody in Hawaii in April and then contacted the Vermont Department for Children and Families in mid-May after learning of the alleged weapons storage issues and heavy marijuana use at the property; video reviewed by the outlet confirmed there were multiple weapons left out in the living room, which other sources told Vanity Fair was common for Miller. The father also showed Rolling Stone a text message indicating a DCF worker visited the property on May 16.
Miller's next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13. If convicted, they face up to 25 years for the burglary charge and up to one year on the petit larceny charge, as well as up to $2,000 in fines.
