Two deny guilt in firearms burglary
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: October 14, 2009
An Upper Valley couple denied charges of burglarizing a Hartford household and stealing $3,000 in firearms.
Erica Sweet, 28, of North Hartland, and Louis Martinez, 29, of Claremont, N.H., both pleaded innocent earlier this month in Rutland District Court to a felony charge of burglary and a misdemeanor charge of selling stolen property.
Judge Nancy S. Corsones set bail for both defendants at $10,000. Sweet is free on conditions, while Martinez is being held in Springfield prison.
According to affidavits, on the evening of Sept. 29, Hartford police responded to a burglary complaint at a Connecticut River Road residence. The homeowners told police they had just arrived home and found the doors to their house ajar and several firearms along with a box of coins were missing, records state.
The guns included a Winchester Centennial 100th Anniversary lever-action 30-30 carbine with a gold-plated receiver and an octagonal barrel; a Remington .223-caliber rifle; two .22-caliber rifles and .410-gauge shotgun, according to affidavits. The coins were a series of quarters, all featuring the state of Virginia, police said.
On Oct. 1, records state, police responded to the Pleasant View Motel on Woodstock Road in White River Junction. In addition to renting rooms, the owner of the motel buys and sells guns, police said, and the owner called the police because the day before, a man and woman had sold him two antique firearms for $125.
The firearms matched the description of the ones stolen and the man and woman told the motel owner they would return the following day with more guns to sell, records state. When they returned, the motel owner called the police, who arrested Sweet and Martinez, records state.
Martinez told police a friend had given him the guns and he sold them as a favor, records state. Sweet initially denied stealing the guns and said Martinez had just shown up at their apartment with them, but later she said she and Martinez had gone to that particular house together because she was friends with the owner's daughter and was familiar with the residence, affidavits state.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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