A Weare man has been found guilty by a jury of firing a gun at the car of a man who mistakenly drove onto n his property, while his wife awaits trail for doing the same thing.
The case involves an event that happened about 6 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2024, when a Black man identified as X.G. drove onto the property of Michael and Diane Durgin, 356 Colby Road in Weare, to “complete the purchase of a car part he had prearranged with a seller online,” according to court documents. The actual seller was at a different property nearby.
According to earlier filings, Diane Durgin approached the car and unholstered her pistol after she saw the man. The Drugins are both white.
X.G. “explained why he was there and showed (Durgin) his phone conversation with the seller arranging the purchase, ” according to a memorandum filed by Attorney General John Formella.
Durgin continued to point her gun at X.G. and called him a “Black mother****r,” according to court documents. He drove away down her driveway at which point Durgin fired twice at him, missing both times, which caused him to drive into a ditch.
At last week’s criminal trial of Michael Durgin in Hillsborough County Superior Court, Michael Durgin testified that he heard those shots but did not know what was happening. He came out of the house to see the car leaving and fired a 12-gauge shotgun filled with bird shot at it, fearing that his wife might have been abducted.
He was found guilty by a jury of f reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony that carries a possible sentence of 3 to 7 years in jail.
X.G. left the car after it went into the ditch and ran off, calling 911. Durgin also called 911, during which the following exchange occurred, according to documents filed by the Attorney Generak’s Office:
Dispatcher: Why did you shoot at this person?
Defendant: Because he’s telling me…first of all, he’s lurking around my yard looking at stuff, my equipment yard. And then he’s telling me he’s supposed to be meeting a guy here. The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal.
Diane Durgin has also been charged with reckless conduct for the shooting and faces charges of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act, which carries a maximum penalty of $5,000, and also requests a restraining order “to protect the victim and the public.”
