Brayden Hemingway
Introduction
Brayden Hemingway is an 18-year-old man from Vergennes, Vermont, who was charged by federal criminal complaint with interfering with commerce by robbery — the Hobbs Act — for the armed robbery of a Stewart’s Shop convenience store in South Burlington on the evening of September 13, 2026. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, security footage shows a man later identified as Hemingway arriving at the store in a white Kia Soul, pointing an apparent handgun at store clerks, demanding money, and leaving with cash — the second of two similar armed robberies committed about an hour apart that evening. Hemingway appeared before Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle on September 15, 2026, and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing. The charge carries up to 20 years in prison.
Background Information
The prosecution sits within the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, the nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement together against violent crime, and within Operation Take Back America, the department’s umbrella effort coordinating those resources. The investigation drew an unusually broad coalition of agencies: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the South Burlington, Burlington, Milton, and Winooski police departments; the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department; and the Vermont Highway Patrol. First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended what he called the coordinated effort behind the apprehension, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Corinne Smith is prosecuting the case. Hemingway is represented by the Office of the Federal Public Defender.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted. Brayden Hemingway faces a federal criminal complaint charging Hobbs Act robbery. The complaint contains allegations only, and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
According to court records, at approximately 7:00 pm on September 13, 2026, South Burlington Police were dispatched to the Stewart’s Shop on Shelburne Road following an armed robbery. Security footage showed a male — later identified as Hemingway — arrive at the store in a white Kia Soul, enter the store, point an apparent handgun at store clerks, demand money, and then leave the store with cash.
The Stewart’s Shop robbery was not the only one that night. According to the announcement, a man matching Hemingway’s description and apparel robbed the Winooski Champlain Farms convenience store approximately an hour earlier in a similar manner. Hemingway is further suspected of engaging in three burglaries in Burlington and South Burlington between September 12 and 14, 2026 — a span of three days in which, per the allegations, the same small corner of Chittenden County was hit repeatedly.
Hemingway appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle on September 15, 2026, two days after the robbery, and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing then scheduled for September 22, 2026. If convicted of the Hobbs Act charge, he faces up to 20 years of imprisonment, with the actual sentence to be determined by the District Court under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors. The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized in its announcement that the criminal complaint contains allegations only and that Hemingway is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The charges were announced publicly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont on September 15, 2026, naming the 18-year-old and detailing the surveillance-footage account of the robbery. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ophardt said: “I am extremely grateful for the coordinated, diligent, and swift work of the officers and agents who investigated these crimes, and who safely apprehended Hemingway.” The speed of the case — robbery on a Sunday evening, federal charging documents and detention by Tuesday — reflected the multi-agency response the announcement credited, and the detention order means Hemingway awaits the proceedings in custody rather than in the community.
Current Status
Hemingway’s case stands at the complaint stage: he has been charged with Hobbs Act robbery for the September 13, 2026 Stewart’s Shop robbery, was ordered detained by Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle at his September 15, 2026 appearance, and was awaiting a detention hearing then scheduled for September 22, 2026. He is further suspected — suspected, not charged in the federal complaint — in the earlier Winooski robbery and three burglaries in Burlington and South Burlington between September 12 and 14, 2026. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 20 years’ imprisonment, and the presumption of innocence applies throughout.
Impact on Their Career/Life
At 18, Hemingway faces a federal violent-crime charge carrying up to two decades in prison — exposure that, if a conviction ever followed, would span the entire adult chapter of his life. He remains in federal custody pending the detention proceedings, and the public complaint permanently attaches his name to an armed-robbery narrative built from store surveillance footage across two towns. Whatever the eventual outcome of the Hobbs Act case and the suspected burglaries, the record of a multi-agency federal investigation naming him at 18 now exists, and the allegations’ resolution will determine whether that record ends in a conviction or in acquittal.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Vermont, “Vergennes, Vermont Man Charged with Hobbs Act Robbery,” published September 15, 2026 — source