Driver to go on trial for death of Hopkinton police officer

Bow Editor — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:34:00 GMT

A Henniker District Court judge ruled there is probable cause to move forward in the case of the 22-year-old Henniker man accused of killing Hopkinton police officer Sean Powers.

Jeffrey Dennis is facing two charges of negligent homicide, one charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated and one charge of conduct after an accident. Sean Powers, 24, was riding his motorcycle back to his home in Hillsboro after his shift at the Hopkinton Police Department at round 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14.

He was travelling west-bound on Route 202/9 in Henniker, said State Police Troop D Capt. Russell Conte, when Jeff Dennis, 22, of Henniker hit him from behind.

When Dennis’ 1992 BMW struck Powers’ Harley Davidson, Powers was thrown into the road where he was inadvertently struck a second time by a Honda Civic traveling westbound. The driver of the Honda is not being charged in the accident.

After hitting Powers, Dennis and a passenger, now identified as Adam Kowalski of Henniker, fled the accident scene. Both were found within several hours, according to police.

Kowalski is not facing any charges at this point, and has been cooperating with the investigation. Dennis and Kowalski had allegedly been drinking at Chen Yang Li in Bow prior to the accident.

Henniker District Court Judge Brackett Scheffy ruled there was probable cause to proceed with the charges against Dennis at a hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 26. Scheffy also continued Dennis’ bail at $500,000 cash only.

The case now goes up to Merrimack County Superior Court for trial. A date has not been set.

Dennis has several DWIs on his record, and has allegedly left the scene of two other accidents in the past.

Powers had just joined the Hopkinton police force in April 2008, and having completed his field training, was about to enter the police academy.

Prior to that, Powers served two tours of duty in Iraq, one from August 2004 to March 2005 and another from September 2006 to April 2007, and came back unscathed.

Powers graduated from Hillsboro- Deering High School in 2002 and joined the Marines. He was based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for his entire Marine career, outside of his two deployments.

Hopkinton Police Chief David Wheeler said his department has kept in close contact with the family since Powers’ death.

“They’ve certainly risen to the occasion. They’re working through things in a very positive way, and they’ve been in communication with the family continuously,” Wheeler said of his officers. “I think that’s been very positive both for them and the family.”

He added while the Hopkinton police are in no way involved in the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office investigation into the crash, the Hopkinton police are hoping the process will work in this case.

“Our hope is that the justice system does what it’s intended to do,” Wheeler said.

Keep the town of Hopkinton clean

Bow Editor — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:54:00 GMT

By Ryan O'Connor
Staff Writer

For the 10th straight year Hopkinton is joining surrounding towns to help residents get rid of unwanted hazardous waste.

The annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day takes place Satuday, Oct. 28, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Henniker.

Along with Hopkinton and Henniker, Sutton, Bradford and Webster will be participating in the voluntary program.

“Henniker does all the heavy lifting, lining it up and contracting,” said Steve Clough, Hopkinton’s assistant public works director. “Because it’s very expensive for the amount of participation that you get here. It is a cost-effective solution to do a regional collection day. It makes it a lot more feasible to do it with several towns.”

Clough said Hopkinton has some of the highest participation in the state.

“Not ever town always did it because it is so expensive. So, to do it in the same spot around the same time every year, we have had an advantage of people knowing it is coming up and knowing where to go to dispose of these materials that have to be treated as hazardous waste,” said Clough.

There really isn’t any easy way to do it, he said.

“It has to be done in a regulated fashion by contracted companies that handle it and it has to leave the site right away, so it gives people the opportunity to dispose of stuff properly if they want to,” Clough said.

Residents who want to participate should bring their hazardous materials and proof of residency to the Henniker Highway Department, which is located on Ramsdell Road.

Directions: Take Route 202/9 to Route 114 South, take a left at town center and a right onto Ramsdell Road. The highway department is on the left.

Items not accepted are water-based paints, latex paints, asbestos-based products, household batteries, ammunition, fireworks, infectious materials or anything radioactive.

Accepted items include household materials, oil-based paints, degreasers, driveway sealers, paint strippers, thinners, solvents, glues, oven cleaners, floor cleaners and toilet cleaners.

Some outdoor materials include insecticides, weed killers and other poisonous products.

“It’s not a commercial or industrial type of thing, it is a household waste type of things,” said Clough.

For a more comprehensive list, residents can consult the bulletin board at their town hall or call the Henniker Highway Department at 603-428-7604.

Hopkinton News : Henniker

Driver to go on trial for death of Hopkinton police officer

Keep the town of Hopkinton clean