Wednesday, August 08
PITTSFIELD — A love triangle, a break-in, and a quantity of cocaine found hidden in a Jeep resulted in the arrests of the current and former boyfriends of the same woman in Dalton on Tuesday night.

Ironically, it was Crystal Caparelli, the woman who has been involved with both men, who called police.

Timothy S. Smithes, 45, of Pleasant Street, Dalton, is charged with possession of cocaine. He is Caparelli's current boyfriend, according to police. Robert J. Hover, 32, of Orchard Street, Pittsfield, Caparelli's ex, is charged with vandalizing property, felony breaking and entering and threatening to commit a crime.

Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges in Central Berkshire District Court yesterday where they were arraigned before District Court Judge James B. McElroy.

According to a police report on file in District Court, Smithes told the officers that as he and Caparelli pulled into the driveway of their Pleasant Street residence on Monday night he noticed that someone was in the house. When he recognized the intruder as Hover, he yelled at him to get out.

Hover then appeared on the porch carrying a hammer and a small crowbar, and started yelling at Smithes to come into the house. Caparelli went into the house and called police. But Hover ran off the porch and began chasing Smithes until police arrived on the scene.

According to the police report, Hover kneeled down and put his hands in the air, but Smithes walked over to the front of a nearby Jeep and reached into the front.

Unable to see what Smithes was reaching for, the officers ordered both men to put their hands in the air. Inside the Jeep, police found a bag of white powder that they believed to be cocaine. Smithes said the Jeep belonged to him, but responded with "I don't know" when the officers asked him if the confiscated drugs were his.

Assistant District Attorney James Petersen asked the court to set bail for Smithes at $25,000 cash based on his previous criminal record, which includes numerous drug offenses. Smithes was charged with trafficking in cocaine on June 8 after Pittsfield Police found 23.2 grams of the drug in his car after responding to a report of a man sleeping in a car behind a restaurant on Wahconah Street, Petersen said. The owner of his own carpentry business, Smithes posted bail on July 2 after it was lowered to $10,000 following a bail reduction hearing in Berkshire Superior Court.

Attorney Thomas Doyle said police may have charged the wrong man with drug possession.

"Hover had plenty of time to stash the cocaine," Doyle said. "It doesn't look like either officer saw Smithes' with cocaine in his hands."

Petersen asked the court to set bail for Hover at $1,000 cash/surety bond. He said Hover told police that he admitted breaking into Smithes' residence to steal drugs.

While he was being booked at the Dalton Police Station, Hover told police that Smithes is a crack cocaine dealer who has been selling the drug to both him and Caparelli. Earlier in the evening, Hover said Smithes phoned him several times to tell him he was with his ex-girlfriend. Following the phone calls, Hover said he asked a few people he knows that knew Smithes was a drug dealer to drive him to Smithes' apartment. He planned to talk Caparelli into leaving Smithes, according to the police report.

Attorney Anthony Giannacopolous, who represented Hover, said Caparelli had been his client's girlfriend for four years.

"This case isn't about stealing drugs or breaking into a house to cause damage," Giannacopolous said. "This is all about a love triangle. ... Mr. Hover has strong ties to this woman."

In the police report, Hover said he asked people to drive him to Smithes' house because he is legally blind.

"He has only peripheral vision," Giannacopolous said, adding that Hover's condition occurred two years ago when he was knocked unconscious after falling 13 feet from a staging area.

Like Smithes, Hover has also had previous trouble with the law. Petersen said he has been the subject of three previous restraining orders, two of them filed by Caparelli.

McElroy set bail for Smithes at $5,000 cash/$50,000 surety bond; and for Hover at $300 cash/$3,000 surety bond. Pre-trial hearings for both men are scheduled for Sept. 6.

Tony Dobrowolski can be reached at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com or at (413) 496-6224.

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