Wethersfield police: Two men charged with stealing Maserati from liquor store parking lot on Berlin Turnpike

Two men were arrested in East Hartford in connection with the theft of a Maserati in a liquor store parking lot on the Berlin Turnpike in Wethersfield on Wednesday, according to police.

The Wethersfield Police Department responded to 5-15 Wine & Spirit, located at 1698 Berlin Turnpike, just after 1 p.m. for a report of motor vehicle theft. The victim told police he parked his 2022 Maserati SUV in the parking lot, went into the store and was met with three masked men armed with handguns when he left the store.

The men, who had parked a stolen black Mercedes next to the Maserati, approached the victim and took some items from the man, including his car keys, according to police. The men then fled the scene in both vehicles on the Route 5/15 connector toward the merge with Interstate 91 and Interstate 84, police said.

Through a joint investigation with the Hartford and East Hartford Police Departments, the Maserati was located on the 1200 block of Burnside Ave. in East Hartford. East Hartford police attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the car fled before crashing near the 1000 block of Burnside Ave. The three occupants tried to run on foot. After a short foot pursuit, two of them were taken into custody and processed by East Hartford police for charges related to the motor vehicle and foot pursuits, police said.

Officers determined the two men were involved in the theft on the Berlin Turnpike and were transferred to the Wethersfield Police Department, according to police.

The suspects, identified as Elijah Johnson, 19, of Windsor and Damian Gordon, 18, of Hartford, were each charged with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, second-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery.

They were each held in lieu of a $500,000 bond and were scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on Thursday.