A former corrections officer is accused of assaulting and threatening to shoot an inmate who he transported from the state prison to a medical appointment in Manchester last year.
Roger Provost, an employee of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections for more than 18 years, was indicted in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester on two counts of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, and one count each of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, simple assault and harassment. Provost, 53, of Laconia was on duty and working in his capacity as a law enforcement officer at the time of the alleged incident on July 13, 2018.
According to indictments, Provost pointed a firearm at the inmate, who is identified as H.B., while stating something to the effect of “give me a reason to shoot” and “ok tough guy, go ahead now.” Prosecutors allege that Provost placed the man in fear of serious bodily injury. Further, Provost is accused of pushing the man’s head with his hand.
In an interview with the Monitor, Henry Bellemare, who is recently out of prison, said he was the inmate threatened and harassed by Provost in July 2018. He said he had an appointment at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester to receive treatment for pink eye and that Provost drove him to the hospital. On the drive from Concord to Manchester, Provost jerked the transport vehicle and slammed on its brakes, and taunted Bellemare, the inmate said.
He recalled Provost making comments like, “I can fire three rounds in 1½ seconds.”
While awaiting his appointment,Provost reached to get a magazine and brushed up against Bellemare, he recalled. Bellemare told Provost not to touch him again and, in response, Provost took several steps back and unholstered his gun. Bellemare alleges that Provost pointed the gun at him for at least 30 seconds.
In the exam room, Provost continued to taunt Bellemare and pretended to photograph him, according to indictments. Bellemare said the corrections officer tried to provoke a response by holding up his phone as if to take a picture when Bellemare was getting a shot in the buttock.
A second corrections officer was also assigned to transport Bellemare and questioned Provost’s actions that day, Bellemare said.
If convicted, Provost faces years in prison. The reckless conduct charge and one of the two criminal threatening charges are special felonies, and each carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $4,000 fine. Because Provost was on duty at the time of the alleged offenses, he faces enhanced penalties if found guilty.
In 2018, Provost earned $79,446 as a corporal for the corrections department, according to TransparentNH. His employment was terminated on Oct. 18 of that year, approximately three months after the date of the alleged crimes, public information officer Laura Montenegro said by email Tuesday.
Provost is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 15 in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester.
Bellemare was a witness in the 2009 trial of a North Hampton man convicted in a murder-for-hire plot. He testified before a jury that Robin Knight, a one-time cellmate, had confided in him and told him that he did take part in the murder of Derry handyman Jack Reid at a Deerfield horse farm in 2005, according to the Associated Press. Knight, who is serving life in prison, tried unsuccessfully to get his conviction overturned, alleging that his defense failed to fully investigate Bellemare’s criminal history.
Bellemare, 52, was most recently arrested by Manchester police in 2014 for his role in a string of armed robberies in the city. Bellemare has an extensive criminal record in New Hampshire that most recently includes convictions for robbery, receiving stolen property, operating as a habitual offender and false public alarm, court records show. Dozens of criminal cases have been filed against him in the state since the mid-1990s.
(Jonathan Van Fleet contributed to this report. Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)