NEWPORT, Vt. — The lawyer for a Newport, Vt., man accused of using his dad’s large farm tractor to crush seven sheriff’s vehicles last week is trying to get the most serious charge — aggravated assault on a police officer — dismissed.

David Sleigh, a longtime St. Johnsbury, Vt., attorney, said Tuesday he wants a judge to also reduce the seven counts of felony-level unlawful mischief, one for each vehicle, to one count against his client, Roger Pion, 34, of Newport.

Sleigh, who declined to comment on a possible motive for Pion’s alleged actions, accompanied him to Vermont Superior Court in Newport Tuesday afternoon where he did succeed in getting Judge Robert R. Bent to drop one of the 14 charges. That was a felony count of impeding a public officer.

Pion then entered not guilty pleas to the 13 remaining charges during the 20-minute hearing before Bent ordered his $50,000 bail continued.

Pion was returned to Northern State Correctional Center in Newport where he’s been held since Thursday when police ordered him out of the 20,000-pound Case farm tractor at gunpoint and took him into custody.

Police said in a court affidavit that Pion was armed with a .32-caliber Czech-made handgun.

Sleigh Tuesday argued that Newport City Police officers’ contention that Pion took a run at them with the tractor in reverse as they closed in on him did not constitute a case of aggravated assault, which carries a maximum prison term of 16 years.

“And charging seven separate counts of unlawful mischief is multiplicitous and a violation of double jeopardy,” Sleigh said in a telephone interview following the hearing.

“You can’t charge for each separate cruiser. If somebody breaks into a home and destroys a wine glass, a salad bowl and a picture frame, that’s one charge of unlawful mischief, not three,” he said.

Bent told Sleigh he would take his motions under advisement.

When the question of Pion’s bail arose last week, Orleans County State’s Attorney Alan Franklin pointed out that Pion’s record included no fewer than 17 misdemeanor convictions and seven cases in which he failed to appear for court proceedings. His bail was boosted Friday to $50,000 from the initial $15,000.

In a story that has attracted worldwide press attention, Pion is accused of demolishing more than half the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department’s fleet of vehicles in a few minutes.

Sheriff Kirk Martin skipped the arraignment, and said Tuesday it was “business as usual” at his department on Route 5.

“It’s still in the back of your mind what happened,” he said. “You never know what every day is to bring.

“They bring themselves to our attention; we don’t go looking for them,” he said, regarding those charged with crimes.

His officers are driving five cruisers borrowed from several of the 14 Vermont sheriff’s departments, in addition to the ones among the 11-vehicle fleet that weren’t flattened. Martin said he’s about to take delivery on a brand new cruiser he ordered prior to the incident.

The sheriff said spirits have also been buoyed by the response of their colleagues in law enforcement and by members of the community. That includes a local businessman who has a standing offer to loan the sheriff’s department $100,000 until the insurance payment and other financial issues can be sorted out.

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Bob Hookway may be reached at bhookway@newstote.com.