South Hadley police arrest two linked to storage unit break-ins

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

SOUTH HADLEY - After getting a report of a suspicious vehicle parked near a self-storage business, police staked out the area and hit pay dirt, arresting two men who allegedly used bolt-cutters to snap padlocks and enter 44 storage units Wednesday night.

The men were found with an array of stolen property and a prescription narcotic packaged for distribution, authorities say.

Artur P. Lesinowski, 19, of East Longmeadow and Corey A. Coulombe, 20, of Chicopee pleaded innocent Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of breaking and entering a building during the nighttime for a felony, malicious destruction of property valued above $250 and larceny over $250.

Lesinowski also pleaded innocent to charges of possessing a class A substance (Suboxone) and possessing a class A substance (Suboxone) with intent to distribute.

According to Lt. Steven Parentella, at 10:20 p.m. police received a call reporting a suspicious vehicle parked on Eagle Drive, a street that runs next to Community Self Storage on Industrial Drive and was a known staging area for previous break-ins.

Parentella said police sent a cruiser to keep an eye on the car, which reportedly sat unoccupied for more than an hour before the witness called again to report that two men were leaving the storage facility through a hole cut in a fence and were running toward the vehicle.

Lesinowski and Coulombe, Parentella said, were captured a short distance from the storage facility and were taken to the parked car, where police reportedly found bolt-cutters and a plethora of stolen goods, including car amplifiers, power tools, electronics and an electric boat motor.

While being placed under arrest, police discovered that Lesinowski had several individually packaged Suboxone tablets, a medication commonly used to treat opiate addictions.

Judge John Payne Jr., set Lesinowski's bail at $500 cash and Coulombe's at $1,000 personal surety. Neither man had posted bail Thursday afternoon and both are scheduled to reappear for a pretrial hearing Nov. 23.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.