http://www.courant.com/community/manchester/hc-manchester-uconn-arrests-1218-20141217-story.html



MANCHESTER — Two University of Connecticut students hatched a plot to rob a local drug dealer, a scheme that promised a big haul of narcotics and cash, police say.

Roommates Michael Masiarz and Adam DeFelice, both 21, employed two other men to carry out the hold-up, but their plot fell apart as police followed a distinct trail of evidence, according to an arrest warrant for Masiarz obtained Wednesday.

Police were called to 127 Diane Drive on Nov. 14 on a reported home invasion. Two men, one armed with a handgun, had burst into the house at about 4 p.m., forcing everyone to the floor. The robbers took oxycodone pills and the wallet, cell phone and watch of a drug dealer who was visiting the homeowner, police said.

Masiarz told police soon after the robbery that he had arranged to buy 90 oxycodone pills for $1,550 from the dealer, police said. Masiarz was in the house wih the dealer, who has not been charged, and the homeowner when the hold-up occurred, but he left soon after the thieves fled and initially claimed he knew nothing about the robbery, police said.

Through interviews and searches of texts on Masiarz's cell phone, however, Det. Jason Pontz found that Masiarz and DeFelice, both originally of Stamford, had decided to set up the drug dealer after seeing him with a backpack full of drugs and money, police said.

To avoid arrest, the roommates needed others to actually commit the robbery, people outside their circle of "rich white kids," according to the warrant. Police say the accomplices they found were Ryan Burke, 21, of Hartford, and Danny Turkvan, also 21, of Stamford, who is wanted by police in his hometown on a second-degree strangulation charge.

Turkvan is 6 feet, 4 inches tall, and according to the warrant, has a condition that leaves him unable to grow any hair on his head, including eyebrows. Because of his distinctive appearance, Turkvan wore a mask when he entered the Manchester home after a texted signal from Masiarz, police said. Turkvan also is the suspected gunman. He has not been arrested, but police said they are looking for him.

The haul from the robbery was not nearly as lucrative as Masiarz had promised, but police were able to track the use of the drug dealer's stolen credit card to Storrs, where Turkvan is suspected of buying $339.19 worth of Ciroc vodka, food for $49.74 and a pack of cigarettes for $8.93, police said. The purchases were made on Nov. 14, soon after the robbery, police said.

Masiarz faces charges that include conspiracy to commit both home invasion and first-degree robbery. He posted bail of $250,000 and is due in Manchester Superior Court on Jan. 6. DeFelice, who drove Burke and Turkvan to Manchester and relayed the signal from Masiarz, was charged with home invasion and first-degree robbery, police said. Court information was not available.

Both men were still enrolled at UConn as of the end of the fall semester last week, university spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said. Masiarz enrolled in the fall of 2011; DeFelice in 2012, Reitz said. She said she had no more information on their status as UConn students.

Burke also faces home invasion and first-degree robbery counts, among other charges. He was being held on bail of $300,000 and is to appear in court on Jan. 2.

Police spokesman Capt. Christopher Davis said the suspected drug dealer who was robbed has not been arrested, but the investigation is continuing.

Quoted:
We were looking at buying a house in that area, very scary. Thanks for the heads up, my wife is insisting on heading to her parents, in that area, and bringing our son with her to visit gradma and grandpa (I got called back into work) so I'm making sure she brings her G26