When 19-year-old Daniel Acorn responded on Facebook to a post from a stranger looking to sell a cellphone and vaping device, he never intended to buy the items, according to police.
Instead, Acorn, an Allenstown resident, and two friends conspired to rob the man by jumping him in the parking lot of the Steeplegate Mall in Concord, where they held a knife and a BB gun to his body and emptied his pockets.
The group then sped away in a blue 2001 Ford Taurus.
Police say the February armed robbery is of particular concern because it is yet another example of teenagers planning and carrying out an act of violence against someone who they first interacted with online. Too often these meetings happen under the guise of a drug deal that goes awry, and some have led to serious injury, including outside the Penacook Place Apartments where a Concord teenager fired seven rounds into a car in November 2018.
“Before social media, you had to actually call someone on the phone and generally you knew who they were. Now there’s so much greater access to people to carry out these kinds of crimes. Even if it’s just a small percentage of the community doing it, they’re so much more enabled by that access,” Concord Det. Sgt. Rob Buelte said.
Buelte said he is increasingly concerned by young people’s ability to obtain dangerous weapons, especially in the context of the drug epidemic, which has evolved from concerns about opioid dependency to concerns about the growing use of methamphetamine.
While no one was injured in the more recent case, police said the potential was there.
According to a sworn police affidavit, when Acorn pressed a knife against the left side of the victim’s torso, he said something to the effect of, “Don’t make this a murder.”
Acorn and two friends – Benjamin Rockwell, 19, of Concord and Marcus Patterson Jr., 19, of Salem – face Class A felony charges in connection with the incident that unfolded outside the mall on the afternoon of Feb. 26. The three teenagers were arrested after a multi-month-long investigation by police and recently indicted by a Merrimack County grand jury.
Acorn, who police say was the ringleader, faces charges of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Rockwell and Patterson each face charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and accomplice to armed robbery.
Police said they first took a report of the armed robbery on Feb. 26 at approximately 3 p.m. A man reported that someone with the Facebook screen name “Dee Santos” – later identified as Acorn – messaged him to say he was interested in purchasing the cell phone and vaping device for sale, according to the affidavit prepared by Concord police officer Jason Garrahan. They had agreed in conversations on Facebook’s messenger application to meet at the mall that afternoon.
When the man arrived, he messaged Acorn who advised he was waiting in a blue Ford Taurus. When he reached the front of the car, the man said he was suddenly ambushed by two individuals who were armed. One man – who police say was Acorn – jumped from behind the vehicle onto the car’s trunk and ran toward him, while the other man – who police say was Rockwell – got out of the car’s backseat and displayed a BB gun, according to the affidavit.
Acorn picked the man’s pockets for a rose gold iPhone 6 SE and a black LG Rebel 3, as well as a “Smoke Q2” vaping device, police said. Then the group took off from the mall.
Police said they ultimately identified the vehicle and its owner, Patterson, as a result of an unrelated call for service they received in early March.
As part of the investigation, police obtained search warrants for both the victim’s and Acorn’s Facebook accounts, where they reviewed the messages exchanged leading up to and after that afternoon in February.
In an interview with police in April, Patterson said Acorn reached out to him on Feb. 26 asking if he wanted to “chill” at the mall. Patterson said he thought they were just going to get something to eat but then he overheard his friends talk about how they wanted to “jump some kid,” the affidavit says.
“Marcus went on to explain how Daniel is manipulative in nature and often threatens to harm his own friends if they don’t agree to help him with his plans,” Garrahan wrote.
Patterson said he never got out of the vehicle but did observe Acorn hold a knife against the victim’s stomach. He also observed Rockwell behind the victim but did not see the BB gun, although he said he knows Rockwell had it on him that day.
Rockwell declined to discuss the incident with police during an interview on April 29. Police also contacted Acorn who said he’d come to the station to speak with them but never did.
Nearly one year ago, police responded to the Penacook Place Apartments for a report of a botched robbery that nearly took a fatal turn. Police say Devon Gilligan, who now faces a charge of attempted murder, had communicated over social media about plans to sell four grams of marijuana for $20. Prior to that day, Gilligan had only communicated with the man on Snapchat and had never intended to actually sell him the drug, according to an affidavit.
When a plan crafted by Gilligan and his friends fell apart, police say Gilligan pulled out a gun and fired several rounds at the victim as he drove away. The case against Gilligan is still pending in Merrimack County Superior Court.