Mass. men accused of stealing over $100,000 in cash, merchandise during Salem armed robbery

Apr. 2—Two Massachusetts men, including a student at Rivier University, have been charged in connection with an armed robbery in Salem in February. Police claim the pair, along with a third person, tied the manager up and robbed the store of $100,000 in merchandise, cash and other items.

The robbery occurred between the hours of 7:30 and 8:15 p.m. on Feb. 26 at Heavenz Smoke and Vape World on South Broadway in Salem.

The store manager was conducting a large business order with three male subjects, "with whom he had done business with previously" according to Salem police, when two of the men allegedly pulled out firearms and held the victim at gunpoint while a third individual tied the store manager up.

During the course of the robbery the victim was struck several times, police said, with the three men stealing personal items from the manager, a large amount of merchandise and cash from the store, totaling more than $100,000.

Salem Police Detective James Carlin was assigned to the case, and after processing the crime scene and reviewing surveillance footage obtained from area businesses two suspect vehicles were identified, police said.

Numerous search warrants for cell phone data were executed and two potential suspects were identified — Jose Perlera, 20, of Lunenberg, Mass., a student at Rivier University in Nashua, and Kervin Maitre 19, of Salem, Mass.

Additional evidence related to the robbery was obtained and investigators developed enough probable cause to obtain arrest warrants for the two men.

On Monday, Nashua police and the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section separately arrested the men on those warrants. During the arrests, a firearm was recovered from each of the suspects, police said.

After Nashua police arrested Perlera, Salem detectives executed a search warrant on the student's dorm room.

Salem police are still looking for the third person involved.

Perlera and Maitre each face felony charges including robbery with a firearm, kidnapping, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, criminal threatening with a deadly weapon and second-degree assault (strangulation).

Perlera appeared Tuesday morning in Salem District Court and was ordered held on preventive detention, with a probable cause hearing scheduled next week.

Maitre is being held on additional charges out of Massachusetts.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective James Carlin of the Salem Police Department at 603-893-1911.