KLOTZ GETS ATTORNEY, PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION CASE IN GROTON CITY TEEN PLEADS GUILTY TO BURGLARY, ASSAULT IN MONTVILLE BREAK-IN

The 34-year-old convicted sex offender who police said attempted to abduct a 16-yearold girl on June 25 in Groton City pleaded not guilty Tuesday during his first appearance in the New London court where major crimes are tried.

Matthew Klotz of 113 Hewitt Road, Stonington, has been in custody since June 28, when police allege he was attempting to flee to Florida.

He is charged with first-degree unlawful restraint and second-degree kidnapping and is being held in lieu of $500,000 at the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown. Led into the courtroom Tuesday for his appearance in Superior Court, he scanned the gallery and smiled slightly when he spotted his mother. Judge Hillary B. Strackbein appointed attorney M. Fred DeCaprio from the public defender’s office to represent Klotz and continued the case to Sept. 5. Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Theresa Anne Ferryman will be prosecuting the case.

Police said the teenager was walking alone about 3 p.m. when Klotz, who had been hiding between bushes, grabbed her and tried to force her into a white GMC pickup truck.

The teenager fought back, got away and was picked up by people who had witnessed the attempted abduction, who then took her to the police station. She told police she had scratched her attacker on the arms during the struggle. Investigators said they took nail clippings and scrapings from her that the state laboratory tested and confirmed contained Klotz’s DNA.

Klotz in 2012 was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by 12 years’ probation after he pleaded no contest to kidnapping, carrying a firearm and stalking. Police said he hid in the bushes and attempted

A 17-year-old from Westbrook was sentenced Tuesday in New London Superior Court to three years probation for breaking into a Montville home on Jan. 14, confronting a man he knew with a knife and stealing $15.

Wesley Lacombe, who has been incarcerated for eight months while his case was pending, pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and third-degree assault. His case initially was referred to juvenile court because of his age but was transferred to the adult docket due to the serious nature of the initial charges, which included home invasion.

According to town police, he entered a 52 Pequot Road home at 9 p.m. on Jan. 14 through an unlocked door to retrieve something a friend had left there after a party the previous night. He held a large kitchen knife to the neck of 20-year-old Tyler Radics and told him, “Don’t make me stab you. Lay down.” Radics sustained a small cut on his shoulder from the end of the knife.

Radics said Lacombe picked up the knife and backed out of the apartment, pointing the knife at Radics and grabbing three $5 bills from a television stand. Lacombe also picked up a small bag of marijuana but Radics wrestled it away from him, according to the state.

Lacombe’s attorney, M. Fred DeCaprio said Lacombe had been friends with Radics for several years and described the event in “a significantly different context.”

Judge Hillary B. Strackbein imposed a sentence of five years in prison, fully suspended, followed by three years of probation and told Lacombe to make better decisions.

“The right road to follow is to get an education and a job,” she said.