Four charged in plot to steal marijuana

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NAUGATUCK — Four borough men were arrested Tuesday after police say they conspired to rob a 16-year-old of marijuana.

Police said the victim drove with a friend to the Southwood Apartments at 933 Rubber Ave. shortly after 11 p.m. Two men in ski masks approached the car and told the victim he “owed them money,” police said. One of the men then started to punch the victim through the car window, which was partially open, police said.

The investigation determined four men who live at the apartments, identified as Steven Lister, 19, Javon Couture, 22, Sean Chobian, 19, and Victor Foster, Jr., 26, devised a plan to buy marijuana from the victim and then rob him of it during the drug deal, police said.

Naugatuck police spokesman Lt. Bryan Cammarata said when the victim and his friend arrived at the apartments Lister and Couture got in the back of his car. The plan, the four men told police, was for Chobian and Foster to pretend to rob everyone in the car and make off with the marijuana, Cammarata said.

The teen, whose name wasn’t released, handed a bag a marijuana to one of the two men in the back seat, Cammarata said. Chobian and Foster were delayed for some reason, Cammarata said, and the man with the marijuana ran from the car with the bag.

Chobian and Foster then approached the car wearing masks, Cammarata said. Chobian punched the teen, and the other man in the back seat of the car ran away, Cammarata said. All four fled before police responded.

Cammarata said all four men told investigators the same story. The teen, however, denied that he was at the apartments to sell marijuana. He told police he was there to visit Lister and Couture and didn’t have any marijuana, Cammarata said.

Police charged all four men with second-degree robbery, risk of injury, conspiracy to commit robbery, sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny, and breach of peace. Chobian was also charged with third-degree assault. All four were held on a $50,000 surety bond and scheduled to appear in Waterbury Superior Court today.

Police didn’t recover any marijuana during the investigation, Cammarata said.

The four men told police they destroyed the marijuana, which they thought might have been fake. The teen wasn’t charged with any drug-related crimes, though the investigation remains open and he may face drug charges, Cammarata said.

Cammarata said the teen doesn’t have a driver’s license and was charged for violating the terms of his learner’s permit.