2 Bay State men arrested in Kittery robbery

KITTERY – Two Massachusetts men were charged Thursday in connection with a $500,000 outlet mall jewelry store robbery after police cracked the case using a fingerprint left on a plastic bag.

Police arrested Kalvin Morales, 21, of Lawrence, Mass., and Sam Rodriguez, 21, of Methuen, Mass., in connection with the June 26 robbery at the Ultra Diamond store. They are charged with violation of the federal Hobbs Act for allegedly committing a violent crime during interstate commerce.

Police said the men were armed with semiautomatic weapons and made off with $500,000 in jewelry after ordering employees into a back room of the store.

The men are accused of using a van stolen in Portsmouth, N.H., as their getaway vehicle. When police later found the van in Kittery with some of the

jewelry inside, they found a fingerprint on a plastic bag that contained black zip ties similar to the ones used to tie up the store employees, police said.

The fingerprint led them to Morales, Kittery police said. Working with Massachusetts police, they then identified Rodriguez as a suspect.