Laconia police say a report of a woman being dragged into a vehicle by her hair late Sunday night is not credible and potentially tied to a drug deal gone wrong.
“We don’t feel there’s a victim out there in jeopardy,” Laconia police Capt. Matthew Canfield said Monday afternoon. “We’re questioning the whole story itself.”
Canfield noted that there may be some truth to the story, but that police need to investigate further before deciding if any criminal charges are warranted against the reporting party or the people involved.
Police received a report Sunday about 11:30 p.m. of a woman screaming outside a Cottage Street residence. A black GMC Terrain had reportedly stopped in the road, a woman got out, and then a man got out before dragging her back inside the vehicle. The sport utility vehicle then sped away, according to the report.
A resident of Cottage Street, who reported the incident, told police he followed the vehicle in his own car until he heard a gun shot. He gave the GMC Terrain’s plate number to police, and they found the vehicle in Concord sometime overnight.
The GMC terrain was parked at a residence on Holt Street where its registered owner lives, Canfield said. Police do not believe the registered owner of the vehicle was behind the wheel Sunday night, he said.
Police learned during interviews with potential witnesses Monday that there was a “large disturbance” outside 40 Cottage St. before 11:30 p.m. and that the story likely begins there, Canfield said.
“We believe the two are related,” he said.
Laconia police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 524-5252.