Concord Men Arrested at Merrimack Hotel

By Carolyn Dube/Merrimack NH Patch

Merrimack Police arrested three men in two separate incidents while patrolling the parking lot of a local hotel last week.

Police Officer Sean Cassell was on patrol when he discovered an unoccupied vehicle running with its headlights on in a hotel parking lot at 2:35 a.m. on Oct. 10. Upon running the registration of the vehicle he learned the owner had a warrant out for his arrest out of the New Hampshire State Prison for a parole violation.

Police say they obtained a room number for the car's owner and officers found two occupants in the room. Both men allegedly gave false names to the officers, however, with help from Concord Police, the officers were able to identify both subjects and determined both had active warrants.

The vehicle's owner, Jason Sfara, 39, of Concord, was arrested on a state prison parole violation related to an outstanding theft by unauthorized taking charge.

The other man, Mark Wojtkiewicz, 31, also of Concord, was charged on an active warrant out of Merrimack County for a probation violation from a burglary complaint.

Police say while they were taking the men into custody, they observed drug paraphernalia in the room and after being granted a search warrant, also located a quantity of a controlled drug. Police expect to bring further charges against both men. Both men were released to the custody of the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Department.

Both Sfara and Wojtkiewicz have had run-ins with the law.

Back in July, Sfara was arrested on drug dealing charges. His North State Street apartment was raided by drug task force members. A few days before, he was arrested at Salisbury Beach on various charges. In 2011, he was arrested on theft charges.

Wojtkiewicz was arrested in 2012 on receiving stolen property and theft charges. 

Third man arrested

Less than 10 minutes after Cassell discovered the running vehicle, police say he also came upon a man acting suspiciously in the hotel parking lot.

Police say man, Shawn M. Varney, 34, of Candia, was arrested for prowling following a short discussion between him and police. While taking him into custody, police say they discovered he was in the possession of cocaine, marijuana and a prescription drug. He was further charged with possession of a narcotic drug, possession of a controlled drug, and possession of a prescription drug.

Varney was taken to Merrimack Police Department for processing and held in custody pending an arraignment later that morning. Varney was ordered held on $25,000 cash or surety bail at his arraignment.