CONCORD MONITOR (New Hampshire) 23 December 05 It's a snake deal gone wrong - They say payback was motive after boa died (Annmarie Timmins)

Three people are being held on charges they robbed a 22-year-old Concord man in the Border's parking lot at gunpoint, allegedly over the sale of a snake.

Any gun may be hard to find: The suspects told the police it was plastic and that they tossed it into the Merrimack River, according to a prosecutor.

The alleged armed robbery was reported Dec. 14 around 7 p.m. According to the police, the alleged victim was sitting in a car with three other people when one of them pulled out a gun and demanded money. The suspects said the victim had sold one of them a red-tail boa constrictor that had died, and they wanted the money back, according to a prosecutor.

The police declined to say how much money was taken from the man. The suspects - two men and a woman - also took the man's cell phone and told him to get out of the car, the police said.

After the suspects left the parking lot, they tossed the gun and the man's cell phone into the river, according to a police report. Neither the gun nor the cell phone have turned up.

The man accused of pulling the gun, Wayne Blake, 21, of Allenstown, was charged with armed robbery and falsifying physical evidence. He is being held on $10,000 cash or corporate surety bail.

Jonathan Lugg, 18, of Loudon, who knew the alleged victim from a previous job, was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, criminal liability for an armed robbery and a probation violation. He is also being held on $10,000 cash or corporate surety bail. Both Blake and Lugg will be supervised by Merrimack County pre-trial services if they make bail.

Meagan Champagne, 19, of Loudon, was charged with criminal liability for an armed robbery. She was ordered held on $500 cash bail. She must have a place to live to be released, and as of yesterday she did not.

The three are due back in court Dec. 30 for a probable cause hearing, where a judge must decide whether there is enough evidence to transfer the case to Merrimack County Superior Court for trial.

Because the three were charged with felonies, they could not enter pleas in district court and cannot be tried there.

It was unclear yesterday how much the snake sold for.

On the Internet, red-tail boas are available for as little as $80 and as much as $1,500. Some Web sites described them as popular, docile pets.
It's a snake deal gone wrong - They say payback was motive after boa died

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• NH Press: It's a snake deal gone wrong - They say payback was motive after boa died - W von Papineäu, Fri Dec 23 19:26:31 2005