Photo by Dan Habib and Monitor File

Rep. Tony Soltani

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State Rep. Tony Soltani of Epsom has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident on Interstate 393, according to complaints prepared by the state police.

Soltani, 44, will be arraigned May 8 at Concord District Court for conduct after an accident, a misdemeanor charge, and negligent driving, a violation, according to the complaints.

The state police say that Soltani knowingly struck another car on I-393 in Concord Feb. 14, knocked the vehicle into the shoulder and continued westbound without stopping.

Soltani yesterday called the Valentine's Day accident a minor dust-up and said he was unaware of the collision until state troopers contacted him later in the day. When they examined his car, the troopers discovered paint from another car and scratches on the right front fender of Soltani's 1996 Dodge Stratus.

Bridgette Dukette, the motorist whom Soltani is accused of striking, said yesterday there's no way the lawmaker could have missed the fact that he was involved in an accident at the time.

"When he hit me, it made him go out of control, and he went into the median," said Dukette, a state employee from Andover. "His story is that he didn't know that he hit someone. And I find it hard to believe. I mean, it was an impact. I felt it. I heard it."

Soltani was headed to the State House when the accident occurred, about 1:30 p.m. He said it probably happened when he briefly turned his attention from the road to fumble with an uncooperative soft-drink container in his console cup-holder.

"I was on the left lane of 393 headed toward Concord, and I went to pick up my drink, and those covers pop up pretty easily. The cover popped up, and it distracted me, and I looked down and tried to put the cup back where it belongs,"Soltani said. "As I looked up, I noticed that I had drifted to the left - I'm sorry, I had drifted to the right. I overcorrected to the left and went into the median strip a little bit, and then I was back where I belonged, and I continued going to my committee meeting in Concord."

Dukette, 28, was returning from a lunch break when she noticed a gray sedan speeding toward her from behind in the right lane, between Exit 3 and Exit 2, she said.

"He was behind me, and then he tailgated me, and then he changed lanes - he went into the left lane,"Dukette said. "I was watching him out of my side mirror, and I saw that he was coming closer and closer to me. So really, my first thought was 'road rage,' by the way he came up behind me really quickly, and he was coming into my lane."

After Soltani hit Dukette's 2002 Chevrolet Venture, she watched as Soltani's car swerved left into the median culvert, pulled back onto I-393 and slowed briefly before continuing westbound. Dukette called 911 from the shoulder and spoke with the state police.

Dukette identified the other car as a gray sedan with a low-number license plate that included a dash. She described the driver as a white male in his mid-to-late 40s with dark hair, glasses and an unshaven face or light beard, according to an affidavit prepared by state police Trooper Jeff Ladieu.

The state police quickly identified Soltani as the likely driver and approached him at the State House. Soltani first told troopers Christopher Laporte and Charles Johnston that he might have been involved in an accident but was not sure, Ladieu wrote.

Soltani explained that he had been eating in his car because he was late. He told the state police he might have hit another car while taking a sip of his drink, the state police said.

Soltani said yesterday he was eager to show the state police his car because he thought the absence of damage would prove he had not been in an accident. (next page »)