By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — A pair of Newport men were arrested on multiple felony charges that stem from an altercation where a juvenile was also arrested for discharging a firearm.
Kaeden Hughlock, 21, of Newport, was arrested and charged with Riot (Class B Felony); Accomplice to Criminal Threatening with a Firearm (Class A Felony); Hindering Apprehension (Class B Felony); and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor (Class A Misdemeanor).
Isaac Torres, 21, of Newport, was arrested and charged with Second Degree Assault (Class B Felony); Riot (Class B Felony); and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor (Class A Misdemeanor).
According to a probable cause affidavit with information provided by Detective Sgt. Alexander Marvin, on Aug. 29 at 10:30 p.m. the Newport Police Department responded to 33 Whipple Road. This is a subsidized housing complex with about 50 units, and there were frantic calls in large numbers about shots fired. Witnesses even reported that two people had been shot.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found three people standing at the end of Whipple Road who said that a juvenile had shot at them. They also said Torres had been with them, and they and their friends fled on foot. Officers parked at the end of the road and approached the complex with rifles drawn. When they approached, a white sedan passed them coming out of the complex toward Sunapee Street.
Officers couldn’t find the shooters, but they learned through interviews that the vehicle that just left contained the suspects.
During an on-scene investigation, police found that Torres was involved in a fight, and during that fight the interviewee who was referred to as JW had been hit by what he believed to be a glass bottle. At some point during the altercation, the juvenile pulled out a handgun and discharged shots into the air. The person being interviewed reported that he and the juvenile had issues for “quite some time” and police reviewed Snapchat messages supporting this.
At the scene, officers found six .45 caliber shell casings. They also recovered security camera footage from neighbors, and one showed six gunshots just before police arrived. Police completed three interviews and received voluntary written statements that gave them same accounts that Torres and another unnamed person were in a fight, and that the juvenile was shooting rounds.
On Aug. 29 at 3:30 p.m. the Newport Police Department was called to 33 Whipple Road, Apartment 10. It was reported that Torres had been at the residence but he was not supposed to be there. The woman there was in an on-and-off relationship and Torres had been staying at the residence previously. She had told him to leave the day before, and this led Torres and friends to go to the apartment to retrieve his belongings.
Police also reported that they drove to Claremont to speak with the juvenile. They spoke with his mother who had no knowledge of the shooting, and when asked if he had a firearm she said “he better not” and that he was “16 and did not listen.” Police asked her if the juvenile was driving her car that night and she said he doesn’t drive but does have a friend with a white vehicle named Kaeden. Police spoke with the juvenile who said he was not in the area the previous night and that he was with his girlfriend. He admitted he knew the person who was with Torres, and said he was not on good terms with him due to a previous incident.
Police again spoke with JW who said that there was an altercation with the juvenile in prior weeks where he flashed a handgun in his waist band. Over the next several weeks Snapchat messages were exchanged to meet for a fight, police said. In the messages, the juvenile admits having a gun on the day of the original dispute but said he was just adjusting the gun.
On the night of Aug. 29, voice messages between the two show a challenge to fight. They eventually met at Whipple Road with two friends with the intention of fighting the juvenile. JW said that Torres and the juvenile were on the road and Torres came at him, starting the fight. At some point, the juvenile pulled out the gun and shot into the air. He went to walk away and Torres allegedly hit him with the glass bottle. The group retreated back toward Whipple Road, and the juvenile continued firing shots.
Security camera footage showed six gunshots at 10:30 p.m. Videos corroborated JW’s version of events, police said. Security camera footage also caught the license plate of the vehicle, which was registered to Hughlock.
While at the police department, Newport PD got a call from Torres’ grandmother who had been called earlier. She said that Torres admitted he had been in a fight the night before, and that someone fired a gun. She added that Torres told her he was defending a friend who was underage and that he wasn’t going to let him get beat up.
A series of search warrants was granted on Aug. 30, which included an unnamed address, 186 South Main Street in Newport and for the Honda Accord owned by Hughlock. The warrant was executed at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 31 to search the unnamed address by the Newport and Claremont Police Departments. The juvenile was found at the home and detained while the search occurred. The search led to police finding an extended magazine for a Glock .45 in his bedroom, as well as loose ammunition that included a 7.62 round in his closet. There was also an empty box for a Smith and Wesson MP15 rifle, and several boxes of .38 special ammunition.
The search warrant for 186 South Main Street Apartment C was executed on Sept. 3 but police didn’t find firearms or associated items. Hughlock went to the Newport Police Department for interviews.
Based on interviews and evidence found, officers believed that there was probable cause that Hughlock and Torres did knowingly assemble with two or more people in a public place and committed the offense of “Riot,” as well as the other charges listed for each suspect.
Torres was arraigned on Sept. 4 and Hughlock on Sept 5. Torres has a hearing scheduled for Sept. 10 at 10 a.m., while Hughlock has his next hearing on Oct. 1 at 10 a.m.
