A Hillsborough teenager is in custody Friday after police say he caused a head-on crash, hit a good Samaritan with a pipe and attempted to steal two police cruisers in Canterbury.
The state trooper who first arrived at the accident scene Friday morning had attempted to interview 18-year-old Alan Clark, who police say failed to negotiate the turn onto Kimball Pond Road from Route 132, causing a nearly head-on collision. But Clark had different plans, police said.
At first, Clark walked away from the trooper and the accident scene. When the trooper told him to stop, Clark ran toward the cruiser, got into the driver’s seat and revved the engine, police said.
State police Sgt. William Graham said the trooper struggled to maintain control of Clark’s hands so that he couldn’t put the car into drive.
“He essentially pinned (Clark) to the seat,” said Graham, who is an assistant troop commander in Concord. “It caught him off guard, for sure. It’s very unusual to have someone jump in your car and try to steal it.”
The trooper was unable able to reach his radio, but he used his elbow to push the cruiser’s microphone button near the center console. Dispatchers and other troopers said it was apparent from the disjointed radio transmissions and yelling that there was a problem and that the trooper needed assistance, police said.
“You don’t hear that kind of noise coming across the radio,” Graham said, noting that everyone was on alert.
Multiple state police troopers, Canterbury police officers and deputies with the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene. Officers pulled Clark from the cruiser, taking him to the ground where he was handcuffed.
Clark continued to struggle and was placed into the back of a second state police cruiser while troopers tended to the first officer to make sure he was uninjured, Graham said. Clark used the opportunity to attempt another escape, police said.
While handcuffed, Clark squirmed through a small opening between the front and back seats of a cruiser, police said. He had his foot on the gas by the time officers realized what was happening.
“He is a very small, thin person. He was able to manipulate the opening in the partition and tried to get away,” Graham said.
This time, police re-handcuffed and shackled Clark, who was swiftly taken to the Merrimack County jail in Boscawen where he’ll spend the weekend before facing a judge.
Clark is charged with two counts of felony escape and one count each of reckless operation, conduct after an accident and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord.
State police said additional charges against Clark could be forthcoming. A woman who stopped at the crash prior to police arrival said Clark assaulted her with a piece of a pipe when she tried to check on him and the other driver. Canterbury police are investigating that incident.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)