Justin Hatch, 28, is arraigned in Vermont District Court in White River Junction, Vt., on January 20, 2017, on two counts of assault and robbery with a weapon in connection with convenience store robberies in Hartford, Vt., earlier in the week. (Eric Francis photograph)
Justin Hatch, 28, is arraigned in Vermont District Court in White River Junction, Vt., on January 20, 2017, on two counts of assault and robbery with a weapon in connection with convenience store robberies in Hartford, Vt., earlier in the week. (Eric Francis photograph)

White River Junction — Police arrested two Upper Valley men in connection with armed robberies at two convenience stores along Route 5 in Wilder this week, saying on Friday that one of the suspects had used the money to buy drugs at the motel where they were living.

Justin Hatch, 28, of North Haverhill, pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court on Friday after being charged with two counts of assault and robbery with a weapon, which each carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. He is being held without bail at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt.

His alleged accomplice, Travis Popp, 29, of Hartford, was arrested early Friday afternoon in the parking lot of Wal-Mart along Route 12A by Lebanon police and is being held on an unrelated New Hampshire arrest warrant, authorities said.

“Charges related to Popp’s involvement with both Wilder armed robberies are pending,” Hartford Police said in a news release. A State Police SWAT team and Hartford police also had searched two rooms at the Shady Lawn Motel in White River Junction, where the men were staying.

“He was an accomplice and working with Hatch in both robberies,” Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten said in a phone interview on Friday.

The Cumberland Farms on Route 5 was robbed around 1 a.m. on Sunday by a man who pointed a handgun at the store clerk, ordered her to fill a bag with cash, and then left the store. He was wearing a hooded jacket, gloves and sneakers, police said.

Then around 8:30 Tuesday night, a man in a hooded jacket showed a handgun and robbed the Wilder Smart Shop Mobil, police said.

Late Thursday night, Hartford police stopped a silver sedan for failing to yield on Route 5 and arrested Hatch, the driver, on an active warrant for two forgery charges in Orange County, according to the news release. Police questioned Hatch and said the soles of his shoes matched prints in the snow that the gunman in the Wilder Mobil robbery had left as he fled.

Hatch told police that he had been staying with Popp at the Shady Lawn Motel but initially denied any involvement in the robberies. He eventually said Popp “came up with the plan to commit the robbery at Cumberland Farms” and had provided him with clothes for a disguise and a BB gun, according to an affidavit from Jason Pedro, a Hartford police officer .

Hatch told police Popp drove him to and from both robberies and then used the money in both cases to buy heroin from Aaron Butler, who was staying in the next room at the motel, according to the affidavit.

Police served search and seizure warrants on separate rooms at the Shady Lawn Motel on Friday morning and recovered what police said was evidence linking both men to the robberies, including a black pellet pistol, the news release said.

Police said they arrested Butler, 27, and his wife Kerri, 31, after finding them with more than 80 grams of suspected heroin, and $16,000 in cash, at the motel. Aaron Butler was also wanted for a parole violation in New Hampshire, police said, and the couple will be charged with heroin trafficking, the news release said.

Popp was arrested around 1 p.m. on Friday in the West Lebanon Wal-Mart parking lot as four police cruisers and an unmarked sedan with flashing lights converged on the silver hatchback that he had been riding in. 

At least one officer in tactical gear could be seen holding a rifle as Popp was arrested. Lebanon Police Chief Richard Mello said Popp was taken into custody on a shoplifting warrant, and that several Lebanon tactical team officers had been helping Hartford police with the case since early in the morning.

Mello said the heavy police response was warranted because police were uncertain whether Popp was armed following the robberies. “Although it was a shoplifting warrant, that was why he was taken down in the manner that he was,” Mello said.

Police said they had not linked the two men to an armed robbery at Dan and Whit’s general store in Norwich on Wednesday evening. In that incident, a man in a hooded jacket did not display a weapon, but “indicated he had a weapon” in a jacket pocket, police said at the time.

“We are continuing to examine the evidence and are determining what, if any, involvement they had (in the Dan and Whit’s robbery),” Kasten said. “At this point, there is no immediate information (that the two are linked). However, it is too early to rule it out.”

Valley News staffers Shawn Braley, Rob Wolfe and Jordan Cuddemi contributed to this report. John Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com.