CONCORD, NH — A homeless man now located in Concord, who was living in Massachusetts last year and was previously jailed in the Bay State and in Texas, is facing felony charges after two separate incidents in Concord.
Robert Budzyna, 38, was arrested on Oct. 8 on receiving stolen property-$1,001 to $1,500 and arson charges.
On Aug. 24, an officer was called to AAMCO/B&L Transmission on Manchester Street to take a report about stolen tools and copper from the business. An employee stated someone stole the items from inside a van during the weekend. The value of the items was more than $8,500. A security camera did not pick up the theft, the employee said.
A second employee was interviewed and stated they discovered the theft. The second employee also found some tools that appeared to have been left behind. The second employee later heard from the van owner, who found the tools listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace. The tools were posted 20 hours earlier and listed as available in the Concord area by a woman with a prior arrest history.
The van owner told the officer they knew the tools were theirs because of markings and glue and silicone stuck to them, according to a report. They also shared an exchange with the lister from the Facebook Marketplace account.
The seller listed her address as 6 S. State St., the Concord Coalition Against Homeless apartment building, which has been a hornet's nest of criminal activity.
The officer reviewed the account name and matched it to the booking photo of the same name. The officer also confirmed her address was at the Coalition building, where she lived with a roommate.
Later that day, officers requested a search warrant for the woman's apartment, and the court granted it.
During an interview, she claimed she "found tools that randomly appeared in her apartment's bedroom," an affidavit said. The tools, she said, were dropped off by a man named "Red" the previous day, a friend of her roommate. She also admitted to police she was going to pay "Red" $300 when she sole the tools, the report said.
During the search and interview, another officer spoke with Budzyna, later identified as having the alias, "Red," the report said. When asked where he got one of the hammers, he claimed he purchased it at Home Depot the previous day, the officer wrote. When asked if he had a receipt, "Robert could not provide me with the receipt," the reporting officer wrote.
The report said photos from Facebook Marketplace also matched the apartment's background.
Police brought the van's owner to headquarters to identify some of his tools on Aug. 31, and some were confirmed to be his. Some of the loose copper and bundles were not.
Footage from security cameras at the apartment building was also reviewed and showed a man who "appeared to be" Budzyna, identified by a neck tattoo, the affidavit stated. The officer added that Budzyna walked into the building with a toolbox and a backpack with items hanging out and left without any tools on his person.
A warrant was then issued for Budzyna's arrest.
Editor's note: This post was derived from information provided by the Concord Police Department and Concord District Court and does not constitute a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.
Two days after a warrant was issued for Budzyna's arrest in the stolen tool and copper case, he was accused of setting a homeless tent on fire along the railroad tracks off Storrs and Water streets.
Police were sent to the fire on Aug. 26, near the Fairfield Inn on Gulf Street.
After firefighters extinguished the fire, police interviewed several witnesses and the man who owned the tent. The man lost a guitar worth $1,200, several other tents, suitcases of clothing, four bicycles, and about $200 "worth of copper that had been ruined by the fire," the report stated. The man said he had been "having trouble" with a guy named "Red" concerning a woman and something he had reportedly done.
Two of the witnesses said they saw "Red" running from the tent after it had been set on fire, the affidavit said. One of the witnesses told an officer, "Red told her that he was going to get even with (the tent owner)," the report stated.
Around 10:15 p.m. that night, police were sent to South Main Street after a store owner reported a man being jumped outside their business and requested assistance.
The man, later identified as Budzyna, had a laceration to his nose, he was bleeding, and his eye was swollen and black and blue, the report said. He reported being jumped by multiple people at the Friendly Kitchen, the report said, concerning a woman. During the incident, his waist pack was ripped off him, he reportedly told the officer. Later, during an interview at Concord Hospital, Budzyna reported being jumped by 10 people during the Friendly Kitchen incident.
On Aug. 31, an officer interviewed the owner of the tent again.
The victim reported the woman hooked up with Budzyna and later, him. When Budzyna came around on Aug. 24 looking for the woman, he denied she was there, the report said. The next day, Budzyna slashed the victim's tent, the affidavit said. The victim accused him of leaving a note that stated, "I don't care if you f--- her, just don't let her stay."
On Aug. 26, the victim went to the Friendly Kitchen and, while he was there, saw heavy black smoke coming from Water Street. The victim ran back to his tent and saw it was on fire.
On Sept. 3, the officer reviewed surveillance footage from the Friendly Kitchen of Budzyna being involved in a physical altercation with "numerous other people," the report stated.
Five days later, the officer reviewed footage from the Fairfield Inn that caught a man "strongly similar to" Budzyna, based on tattoos and the waist pack, walking north toward the victim's tent. About 10 minutes later, smoke could be seen from where the victim's tent was located, north of the hotel.
Also, in the month of September, the reporting officer interviewed several people who witnessed Budzyna fleeing from the fire scene or knew about the fight between the victim and Budzyna about the woman. The witnesses included homeless man and woman at the Friendly Kitchen, a woman locked up in the Rockingham County Jail, a homeless man and woman who live in an encampment behind Popeyes on Loudon Road, and other homeless campers near the Fairfield.
The reporting officer also conducted a search of Budzyna and found a case concerning Molotov cocktails thrown at homes in Auburn, Massachusetts, according to the report.
Budzyna is no stranger to police in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, according to reports online.
Back in May 2022, Budzyna was arrested by Auburn MA Police on a fugitive from justice warrant as well as possession of a dangerous weapon-metal brass knuckles, arson, and throwing explosives charges, after being indicted. According to police, in June 2019, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at two homes. DNA evidence traced from the crime led to charges against Budzyna, according to police.
The DNA was matched with DNA from Texas. Budzyna was arrested in Auburn on a Texas parole violation warrant as well as the charges.
According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, he was held on $7,500 cash bail. The homes were not badly damaged, according to police.
In Hooksett, police responded to Whitehall Road for a report of suspicious activity in the early morning hours of Oct. 4, 2025. Budzyna was later arrested on felon in possession of a dangerous weapon and open container-alcohol or marijuana. He was also taken into protective custody for drug use, according to police.
Budzyna was also arrested in Salem in December 2025 on disobeying an officer and breach of bail charges after a motor vehicle stop on Franklin Street.
Budzyna was also arrested in Westminster, MA, in June on larceny from a building, receiving stolen property-$1,200, and breaking and entering in a building-daytime-for felony charges after an incident on Worcester Road.
Judge Ryan Guptill found probable cause to move forward with the cases on Oct. 9. Budzyna was detained without bail. A second hearing was held on Oct. 15. At the hearing, Budzyna made his own oral motion to modify bail, saying "he is hungry and would like to see his girlfriend," according to a memo by Judge David Burns. The state, however, rejected the proposal, and Burns denied Budzyna's request.
Budzyna was back in court on Thursday.
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