Fire In The Woods, Trip To Puerto Rico Leads To Charge

CONCORD, NH — A sex offender, missing for nearly a year and a half, was picked up on a charge after a fire in the woods led to an alleged registration violation. Alcides Natal, 52, of North State Street in Concord, was arrested at 1:10 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2018, for change of registration information; duty to inform. Back on Aug. 19, 2016, a detective was called to assist Concord Fire and Rescue teams after a fire in the woods near a campsite between I-93 and the west bank of the Merrimack River was seen sending a “noticeable column of black smoke” into the air about 1,000 feet south of the Exit 14 off-ramp.

Editor's Note: This post was derived from info supplied by the Concord Police and the Concord District Court. It does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the name removal request process for New Hampshire’s Patch police reports.

“The fire appeared to be contained to the tent area and the tarps that were underneath it,” the detective noted. “There was an odor of gasoline in the area of the tent.”

The detective alleged that there were pill bottles scattered on the ground along with some pills. The bottles reportedly had Natal’s name on them, an affidavit stated, in the area he had described during his last sex offender registration information with the department.

Since Natal was not in the area, the detective began trying to find him, calling his emergency contact, his prescribing physician, and his parole and probation officer. The parole officer reportedly stated that he had not had contact with Natal and he could not be located at a home visit earlier in the month.

On Aug. 29, 2016, the parole officer had a translator call a family member of Natal’s in Puerto Rico and the woman reportedly stated that he was there and had been for about 10 days – or, about the same time the fire was discovered. Natal, however, had allegedly never cleared his travel with his parole officer and also did not inform police about his travel plans – a requirement of his sex offender registration, something Natal had most recently signed in May 2016.

According to the state of New Hampshire, he was convicted on four counts of sexual assault in Leominster MA District Court in May 1999.

On Sept. 7, 2016, the detective filed an affidavit to have Natal arrested and he was picked up last month.

Natal was arrested back in September 2015, while being homeless in Concord, for felony duty to inform after allegedly failing to register in June of that year. He was found in a homeless camp in the Healy Park-West Terrill Park area of the city.

Also, back in April 2011, Natal, who was living on Commercial Street in Nashua, was arrested three counts of unlawful sale of a narcotic drug-heroin, one count of possession of a narcotic drug-heroin, and one count of possession of a controlled drug-Suboxone after a multi-month investigation on drug dealing in the gate city. he was held on $100,000 cash bail. He was sent to prison until 2014, according to reports online.

In 2009, he was also sentenced to 2.5 to seven years in prison in Hillsborough County Superior Court-South for robbery.

Police file photo.