By REBECCA EVERETT
@GazetteRebecca
Daily Hampshire Gazette
NORTHAMPTON — It was an alert neighbor who called police Saturday to report that a car had left a home on Norwich Lake with two televisions in plain view.
That call led to a police chase during which two Springfield men allegedly tried their best to elude police. One escaped from the back of a Northampton cruiser, according to police.
Each man pleaded not guilty in Northampton District Court yesterday to charges stemming from a break-in and robbery at a Huntington home and their flight from police after police stopped their vehicle stop on Route 66 in Northampton Saturday afternoon.
Angel Villanueva, 37, pleaded not guilty to charges of breaking and entering in the daytime for a felony, larceny from a building, possession of burglary tools, intimidation of a witness or police official, vandalism, disturbing the peace, operating an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, and attaching an invalid license plate to conceal one’s identity.
Gamaliel Nazario, 33, pleaded not guilty to charges of breaking and entering in the daytime for a felony, larceny from a building, possession of burglary tools, intimidation of a witness or police official, vandalism, and disturbing the peace.
Judge William P. Hadley set bail at $10,000 each, though Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Michael Russo had asked for $10,000 bail for Villanueva and $50,000 for Nazario.
Nazario, who led police on a three-hour foot chase, according to court documents, faces charges in another court for allegedly receiving stolen property in July and has a list of past convictions including rape, assault and battery, receiving stolen property, possession of burglary tools, and possession of heroin with intent to distribute, Russo said.
Russo said Villanueva has been convicted several times of breaking and entering in the daytime and receiving stolen property, among other charges. He is also wanted on a warrant out of Palmer District Court, Russo said.
According to court documents, a Huntington man reported to State Police Saturday at 12:36 p.m. that a friend saw two men loading a television into a red hatchback car at 210 Norwich Lake Road. State Police responded and notified Westhampton and Northampton police that the vehicle might be headed east on Route 66.
Northampton police found the vehicle — with several televisions sticking out of the rear of the car — parked in the driveway of 275 Rocky Hill Road, according to court documents. They questioned the two men, and according to the documents, Nazario admitted they had stolen the items. While Villanueva was being handcuffed and placed in the back of a Northampton police cruiser, Nazario ran into the woods. Police gave chase on foot and a few minutes later, Villanueva escaped from the cruiser and ran into the woods, according to court documents. The report did not say whether he was still in handcuffs at the time.
Northampton Police Detective Patrick Moody, who quickly caught Villanueva, said that the department is still trying to determine how he got out of the cruiser.
Assisting in the search for Nazario were Northampton and Easthampton police, State Police troopers and a helicopter, and canine units from UMass and Hadley police. After pursuing him through woods and streams in the meadows section of Northampton and Easthampton, a soaking wet Nazario was caught at 4:01 p.m. near Lovefield Street in Easthampton, according to court documents.
At one point, according to the documents, Villanueva told police that he had picked up his friend — whose name he did not know — and the two were returning from a tag sale and had stopped to ask for directions.
Both men allegedly told police they were ill because they had narcotic withdrawal symptoms, according to court documents. Villanueva was treated for about an hour at Noble Hospital in Westfield at 4:21 p.m. before being taken back to the Russell Police Barracks.
State Police who searched the car that night found two televisions, mounting brackets, and a pair of ski boots, all of which the Huntington homeowners identified as those missing from their home. They also found jewelry, tools including pry bars, bolt cutters, wire cutters, screw drivers, and hammers, and “paraphernalia associated with intravenous drug use,” including a syringe and small rocks in a clear liquid.
The home’s front door had signs of being pried open, according to the court documents. Both men are due back in court for a pretrial conference Nov. 6.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at [email protected].
