After a year, second New Hampshire liquor store robbery suspect arrested: follow-up

Rebecca Motta of New Bedford, MA, was accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of alcohol with Chelsie Golan, who was arrested in September.

July 1, 2024, 11:40 a.m. EDT | Updated July 1, 2024, 11:45 a.m. EDT

CONCORD, NH — It’s taken a year, but Concord police believe they have the second suspect accused of stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of alcohol from New Hampshire liquor and wine outlets in 2023.

In June 2023, police were dispatched to the Merchants Way liquor store in Penacook to investigate statewide robberies involving two women. The thefts amount to more than $6,000 worth of alcohol stolen from the stores.

A district store manager reported four incidents in Concord: two on June 4, 2023 and two more on June 7, 2023. On June 4, 2023, the thefts occurred on Merchants Way and Storrs Street and totaled approximately 1,300 $ in alcohol stolen. Three days later, one of the suspects returned to both stores and was accused of stealing approximately $300 worth of scotch and cognac. The officer noted that the timestamps on security footage from both stores were approximately 5 minutes longer than the distances it would take to travel between the two stores, an affidavit states.

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After reviewing surveillance footage of the robberies on both days, the officer accused a woman, who was wearing a wig during the robberies, of being the perpetrator, the report said. That woman, Chelsie Golan of Ruby Circle in Haverhill, MA, was arrested in August 2023 after a Concord Regional Crimeline alert was issued, which resulted in “a flood of information.” During the investigation, the second suspect was identified as Rebecca Lynn Motta, 35, of Willis Street in New Bedford, MA.

Golan was accused of stealing alcohol to resell from a store in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She was accused of confessing to police and naming Motta, one of her drug companions, as a second suspect, according to an affidavit. The report says the two men are accused of being involved in robberies across the state, including in Bedford, Hampton, Hooksett, Nashua, Pembroke, Portsmouth and Seabrook.

Bedford police assisted the Concord investigator by providing information about Motta and Golan from the Massachusetts Board of Probation. Motta’s booking photo “bears a remarkable resemblance to the brunette suspect in my case photos,” the report states.

The agent applied for a search warrant on a 508 number believed to be Motta’s based in Fall River, Mass., not far from her home, and found more than 30 calls between Motta and Golan, the agent wrote .

The officer also spoke to the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission about the Lawrence, Massachusetts, store. The officer also interviewed the store owner, who said he did not know Golan but did know Motta. He denied purchasing alcohol from them.

After attempting to reach Motta multiple times and receiving no response, a warrant was issued for her arrest in July 2023. Motta was arrested at 7 p.m. on June 21 on a misdemeanor charge of organized retail trading and arraigned in Concord District Court.

According to Superior Court records, Golan is charged with a felony organized retail offense in Concord that is expected to go before a jury in October; criminal offenses of organized retailing, willful concealment of crime and misdemeanor willful concealment in Bedford and Manchester from May 2023, with an update conference planned for August; and felony organized retail and misdemeanor theft offenses in New Hampton beginning in June 2023, with an update conference scheduled for September. She was charged in all four cases.

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