Calver pleaded guilty to 11 of 15 charges stemming from the break-ins and a high-speed chase through Amherst and Hadley.
John CalverNORTHAMPTON – A former Chicopee man has been sentenced to five to six years in state prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from car break-ins at a University of Massachusetts parking lot last August and a high-speed chase through Amherst and Hadley.
John J. Calver Jr., 36, pleaded guilty to 11 of 15 charges stemming from the Aug. 3, 2010, incidents.
Four charges won’t be processed as part of the guilty plea. Those charges involved two counts of assault and two counts of assault and battery after police said he tried to hit two UMass police officers with his van.
Calver pleaded guilty to two counts of breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, two counts of larceny over $250, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arrest, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, possession of burglary tools, reckless driving, and vandalism.
Calver will receive credit for the 331 days he has served at the Hampshire County House of Correction.
He was sentenced with jail and prison time for other charges, but all sentences are concurrent with the maximum of five to six years to be served at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Cedar Junction. The sentence was agreed to by both the prosecution and the defense and was accepted by Judge Jeffrey Kinder.
At the time of his arrest, UMass police were investigating a series of car breaks in which laptops and dashboard navigation systems were stolen. Police parked a “bait car” with a laptop computer and other electronics plainly visible, in lot 32 near the campus visitors center.
They were watching as a blue van pulled into the parking lot and drove slowly around and then Calver was then seen approaching a vehicle wearing black socks on his hands. Police discovered a broken window and a missing GPS system.
Calver was also seen taking the items from the unlocked decoy car. When police tried to arrest him, he hit police vehicles then fled along Route 9, where Hadley police joined in the chase. Calver stopped at Competitive Edge on Route 9 and began fleeing on foot when police arrested him, according to Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Michael A. McHale.