Feds charge pair in Pizza Hut robbery

A Laconia man and Belmont woman, who allegedly conspired to rob the manager of the Pizza Hut in Tilton at knifepoint in August, were arraigned in United States District Court yesterday, charged with interference with commerce by threats or violence and conspiracy.

The indictment alleges that Christopher Copp, 23, whose last known address was 708 Union Avenue, committed the robbery and Chelsea O'Connell, 22, of 124 Concord Street, Unit 9,conspired with him on the night of August 15.

According to police, when the manager of the Pizza Hut on Lowes Drive left the store carrying the night deposit on his way to the bank around 11:30 p.m., Copp held him at knifepoint and told him to hand over the money, car keys and cell phone. The manager complied and was ordered to the ground, while Copp fled into a vacant lot across the street. 


Officer William Patten, the first to reach the scene, requested additional units, including a K-9 patrol, and as they arrived a perimeter was established and a search of the wooded area across the street from Pizza Hut was mounted. As the search was underway, an officer spotted a man matching the description given by the store manager walk out of the woods about 100 yards east of the Pizza Hut.

The man was identified as Copp, who was arrested after the K-9 found evidence of his role in the robbery, in which police said about $2,000 was taken.


Detective Nathan Buffington said that while officers searched the area and later detained Copp several suspicious vehicles were seen in the area. "We thought that Copp may have called for a ride," Buffington said, "so we obtained a search warrant for his cell phone." He said that a search of the phone revealed a series of text messages from O'Connell, a girlfriend of Copp who had worked at Pizza Hut in the past, providing Copp with the information he needed to execute the robbery as well as the whereabouts of police patrols while he was waylaying the store manager. O'Connell was arrested on Sunday, the day after the robbery.

At the time of the robbery, O'Connell was on probation for her part in the armed robbery of the Smoke N Barley Store in East Tilton in March 2008, for which she was sentenced to two to four years in the New Hampshire State Prison for Women.

The federal charges carry maximum sentence of 20 years for interference with commerce and five years for conspiracy. They are scheduled for trial in federal court on January 5.