Authorities charge Bosnian gang member in fatal home invasion
Jun. 24—A purported member of a Bosnian-only Manchester city gang has been identified as one of four gang members who invaded a marijuana dealer's home last summer, a crime that ended with one of them being shot dead.
A Hillsborough County grand jury has handed up seven indictments against Armin Elezovic, 23. Six of the indictments accuse Elezovic, himself an alleged marijuana dealer, of participating in an invasion of a Central Street home last July where the homeowner was robbed and pistol-whipped in front of his family.
That homeowner, Isaiah Rivera-Perez, has said he shot at the four to protect himself as they fled out the door and down the street.
The shooting resulted in the death of Jaden Connor, 17, and Rivera-Perez' arrest on a charge of second-degree murder. Outside of Connor, Elezovic is the first name to surface since authorities reported on the shooting and the arrest of Rivera-Perez last summer.
It's unclear if authorities know the other two. Indictments say other co-conspirators are "known or unknown" to the grand jury. A judge has previously described all four as gang members.
The prosecutor in the Elezovic case, Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Patrick Ives, said the case is active and he cannot discuss it. An email to Elezovic's defense attorney, Stephen Rosecan of Nashua, was not returned.
Elezovic is scheduled to be arraigned on the latest charges Friday.
Indictments list his address as 25 Miami Court, a neighborhood off South Willow Street. But he has been in Valley Street jail since October, when a judge revoked his bail after police presented evidence that Elezovic allegedly continued his marijuana trade.
Elezovic allegedly packaged marijuana with his own labels, which include the phrase "OTB Exotics" and included an image of NBA star James Harden.
"Elezovic, through the use of Snapchat and the username OTBJAMESHARDEN, has created a retail enterprise by packaging quantities of marijuana, branding them with a unique and customized label specific to his social media persona, and selling them to the public for a profit," police wrote in September in an effort to have his bail revoked.
He sold marijuana in packages of a little more than 13 grams.
Court papers say OTB stands for Only the Bosnians and that Elezovic has told police he is a founding member of the gang.
Facing other charges
Elezovic faces a host of charges in previous incidents, including the June 2019 beating of Timothy Spaulding, which took place at Eddy's Barber Shop.
Three others allegedly struck Spaulding multiple times; Elezovic is accused of picking up and keeping Spaulding's 9mm handgun as it fell out of his pocket during the attack.
Last month, Spaulding's lawyer told a judge Spaulding had been shot and was in no position to testify. That prompted the judge to delay Elezovic's trial.
According to court papers, associates of Elezovic shot a marijuana customer in the arm in June 2020, and Elezovic allegedly fired a gun in August 2020 at the Red Arrow parking lot.
A judge used those accusations to revoke Elezovic's bail in October. As for the latest charges, each of the home-invasion related charges against Elezovic carries a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years.
Meanwhile, the Rivera-Perez trial has been scheduled to begin next January.
In April, Superior Court Judge Will Delker set Elezovic's bail at $10,000, a rarity in a murder case. He made bail a day later.
Delker has said that Rivera-Perez had reasons to be threatened; the home invaders were armed and entirely capable of returning fire.
