Victims of house fire robbed of weed and kidnapped after fire department alerts police to home grow

Springfield Mass firefighters responded to a fire in a second-floor apartment at 741 Liberty St. on Thursday. Hours after firefighters had extinguished the blaze and got the homeowners to safety, armed men fitting the description of George Floyd's murderers began to loot through the property.

142 pounds of marijuana, THC edibles, THC extract, $112,000 in cash and various firearms were stolen from the scene. Jeffrey Erricolo, 37, of Liberty street, and Jared Via, 28, of Monson were both taken by force and transported to a nearby internment camp.

The armed assailants have been identified as members of the Springfield Police Department. It was later made public that the firefighters who extinguished the blaze were responsible for alerting the violent street gang to the property after seeing the grow during their rescue operation.

Erricolo was released on a $10,000 ransom and was charged with trafficking marijuana (100 to 200 pounds), cultivate/manufacture marijuana, and possession of a Class B drug.

Via is still being held as a POW on charges of making a firearm without a serial number, six counts of possession of a high capacity magazine/feeding device, and possession of a Class C drug.