Weare News : police

Weare man charged with sexual assault

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:25:00 GMT

Weare police arrested Stephen Corey, 36, of 17 Woodland Drive, Weare, on Monday, Nov. 16.

Corey was charged with two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, reckless conduct, criminal threatening and simple assault.

Weare police conducted an investigation over the weeend involving alleged domestic abuse by Corey over a four-month period at his home.

The victim, identified as a 30-year-old female, field complaints with police, alleging Corey sexually assaulted her on two occasions. It is also alleged Corey pointed a rifle at the victim and threatened to kill her.

Corey is currently being held on $10,000 cash bail pending arraignment at Goffstown District Court.

Former Weare police chief dies

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:23:00 GMT

Donald Thomson, the man who served as the town’s police chief from 1974 to 1988, has died of prostate cancer. He was 79.

Thomson served the department during a time when there were no full-time officers, said his son, Wayne Thomson, 55, of Weare.

Donald Thomson also served as the town treasurer for 35 years and worked as an electrical engineer at Public Service of New Hampshire before and during his tenure as police chief.

Since he retired, Donald Thomson worked as a bail commissioner for Goffstown District Court until he fell ill last year. In the past several years, he spent winter months in Florida and Texas.

“He did his civic duty,” said Wayne Thomson, who is Donald Thomson’s only child.

Thomson also leaves behind his wife, Carol Thomson.

His first wife, Marilyn Thomson, Wayne’s mother, died in 1987.

Services for Thomson were held the weekend of Nov. 14.

– Dan O’Brien

Weare man who beat daughter’s boyfriend charged with assaulting teen at party

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:06:00 GMT

By Dan O’Brien

A Weare man has been arrested and accused of raping an 18-year-old at a party he hosted for his twin daughters this month, authorities said.

Gilberto Soto, 40, of 43 Hejo Road, was arraigned Friday, Aug. 14, on charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault, sexual assault and providing alcohol to minors. Soto allegedly served the woman eight shots of vodka before the assault, authorities said.

He was arrested at his home the night before his arraignment in Goffstown District Court.

While requesting that cash bail be set during the arraignment, Weare police Sgt. Lou Chatel referred the judge to Soto’s “pattern of behavior.” He later cited an affidavit suggesting Soto had had sexual contact with two other teenage girls in recent months. The girls were interviewed as part of the investigation.

“We had two other reports … similar reports. But we found that no laws were broken,” Chatel said.

This isn’t the first time Soto has received attention from news media. In March 2008, he told an interviewer on the ABC news magazine show “20/20” that he wanted to “tie a rope” around the neck of then-17-year-old Damon Hadley of Henniker and drag him with his car. Soto had been arrested for punching Hadley in the parking lot of John Stark Regional High School after Hadley and Soto’s daughter, who was then 15, were caught skipping school to have sex.

Hadley’s mother said Soto’s arrest did not surprise her.

“The segment on ‘20/20’ clearly speaks to what kind of person he is,” Lisa Hadley said. “So, no, it doesn’t surprise me.”

Judge Paul Lawrence ordered that Soto continue to be held on $10,000 cash bail or surety. About four hours after his arraignment, he posted bail and was released from the Hillsborough County House of Corrections.

The woman reported the alleged rape to police the morning of Aug. 2, a few hours after she said it occurred at Soto’s home during a combination birthday party and high school graduation celebration for his daughter.

According to the affidavit, after the alleged rape, the woman told Soto’s daughter what happened, who said, “This is the third one he did this to.”

The alleged victim said she had accompanied Soto and his wife, Mary Ellen Soto, and their daughters to a Shaw’s supermarket in Goffstown before the party, where the parents bought alcohol that was later consumed by the teens.

She said that at one point, after Mary Ellen Soto had gone to bed, Gilberto Soto and she played cards, and every time she lost a hand, she drank a shot of vodka.

“Mr. Soto poured her approximately eight shots of vodka, which she drank and described herself as being very drunk,” the affidavit said.

The woman told police that a few minutes later she passed out in a bathroom and Soto helped her up. Soto allegedly walked her down a flight of stairs because she was too drunk to have walked without assistance, the report said.

At the bottom of the stairs, Soto allegedly touched the victim inappropriately. He then escorted her to his 18-wheel truck, where he brought her inside and raped her, authorities said.

According to the affidavit, Soto acknowledged having had sex with the woman but said it was consensual.

The woman said she called her brother a short time after the incident and went to police a few hours later. DNA evidence was taken, and test results are due back in a few weeks, police said. Soto, who owns a truck driving business, was arraigned in the presence of his sister and his wife, who continuously covered her face in a hooded sweatshirt.

Soto could not be reached for comment. According to the judge’s order, Soto is not allowed to have any contact with the woman, is prohibited from using drugs or alcohol and must check in with Weare police weekly.

He is due back in court Friday, Aug. 21, for a probable cause hearing. Trial is set for Sept. 22.

Man shot - Police say incident appears accidental

Goffstown Editor — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:06:00 GMT

BY SARAH LEBRUN

Weare police responded to call at South Stark Highway and Short Street on Friday, Nov. 28, for a reported gunshot wound.

Justin Dean, 20, of 6 Jade Road in Merrimack was allegedly shot by his brother, Josiah Dean, also of Merrimack.

According to police, the brothers had spent the morning hunting in New Boston. While Josiah Dean was in the backseat of the vehicle unloading a revolver, it discharged, striking Justin Dean in the back, who was sitting in the front passenger seat at the time.

“It appears to be accidental,” said Weare Police Chief Greg Begin. “This is the first incident like this I’ve seen in my 20-something years, but I have heard of it occurring before.”

According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Web site, deer-hunting season ends Dec. 7 in New Hampshire; however, pheasant may still be hunted through Dec. 31, and small game such as rabbit, opossum, fox, weasel, raccoon and skunk go through March 31.

“(After hunting) make sure your weapons are cleared before getting into your vehicle,” said Begin.

Other safety tips New Hampshire Fish and Game offers include:
• Control the direction of your firearm’s muzzle.
• Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
• Be sure the barrel and action are clear of obstructions.
• Never point a firearm at anything you do not want to shoot.

Weare police were assisted at the scene by New Hampshire State Police and Weare Fire and Rescue personnel, who transported the victim to Elliot Hospital in Manchester.

According to Begin, Justin Dean was originally admitted to intensive care but has since been moved from that unit.

The incident is still under investigation.

K-9 finds boy in woods

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:48:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Thanks to the help of a smart dog, a 4-year-old boy who wandered out of his yard into a heavily wooded area was found unharmed.

At around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28, Weare police responded to the home of James and Shantelle Sutkus, for a report of a missing boy.

Weare police Sgt. Joseph Kelley, officer Kenneth Cox and Kelley’s partner, police dog Mica, were able to track the boy and found him within 10 or 15 minutes, Kelley said.

“He threw rocks at his brother, and instead of getting in trouble he wanted to run and hide,” said Sutkus. “I went out to call for him to have a time out, and he wasn’t answering.”

After Sutkus searched for her son for several minutes, she called police, frantic that she and her other children could not locate her son.

The area behind the home is made up of miles of thick woods and swamp land.

“I was thinking that I would never see my baby again,” Sutkus said.

Two police officers from the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office remained in the home to search it and be there should the boy return while Kelley and Mica tracked Cody’s scent from the last spot he was standing on the yard.

Mica, a 4-year-old female Belgian Malinois who has been working with Kelley for almost two years, found the trail that went around the side of the house, into the backyard and eventually led to Cody, who was crouched behind a tree about 200 yards into the woods behind the home.

“She basically just made a beeline right out into the woods,” said Kelley.

The entire ordeal, from the time police arrived to the time Cody was found, was about half an hour.

Sutkus said none of her three young children have ever run off before.

“They know the rules. They know never to go into the woods, or go past the bend in the driveway,” Sutkus said.

After Cody was found unharmed, the boy played ball with Mica.

“After everybody left, we talked about it, and he felt bad and he said he wouldn’t do it anymore,” said Sutkus. “He was just thinking he was hiding. It’s the mind of a 4-year-old, he doesn’t really get that what he did was wrong.”

Mica graduated from the New Hampshire State Police patrol and narcotics detection schools, and has been working in Weare as Kelley’s partner since early 2007.

“We’ve never located a small child that was lost, but we’ve done numerous tracks,” Kelley said, adding he takes Mica to neighboring towns to track down drugs and criminals.

About a month ago, Mica tracked down four robbers in Hopkinton who’d broken into a business and fled on foot.

Alleged arsonist to be arraigned

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:10:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A Weare man who allegedly set another resident’s home on fire in April is facing arson, burglary and criminal threatening charges in Superior Court.

A Goffstown District Court judge decided on April 24 that there was probable cause to move forward with the case against Peter Walsh, 27, of 126 Abijah Road, whom Weare police said entered the Mt. William Pond home of Vernon Hamel, 46, and started a fire in addition to threatening Hamel’s life.

Walsh is scheduled to appear in Hillsborough Superior Court on Friday, Aug. 1, for arraignment. In Weare police Detective Lou Chatel’s affidavit, Walsh allegedly broke windows in Hamel’s home with two-by-fours at around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 12.

Hamel got up to investigate the noise, he told police in interviews, and saw Walsh outside.

Walsh then allegedly climbed through one of the windows and entered the house.

“Having no way to exit, Mr. Hamel grabbed a pieced of wood and went toward the front room and now saw Peter Walsh standing inside his house next to a wall that was on fire. Mr. Hamel stated that Walsh said he was ‘going to burn him out,’” Chatel wrote in the affidavit.

At that point, Hamel said he picked up a piece of wood and struck Walsh, simultaneously pushing him toward the front door.

When Walsh was outside, Hamel told police, he allegedly pointed a gun at Hamel through the window and threatened to shoot him. When police arrived at Walsh’s Abijah Road home later in the day to question him, they also searched the premises and found a .357 handgun in his truck.

The fire fully involved the home, and Walsh allegedly drove off in a green car. Hamel fled the home and went to his brother’s home next door, police said.

A K-9 unit went through the house to detect accelerants, but nothing of that nature was found. After examining electrical wires and outlets, the wood stove, heater and other possible sources, fire investigators determined there was no evidence of accidental causes for the fire’s eruption.

The fire started in the front part of the home by the kitchen, according to the affidavit.

While there was little evidence found at the scene, investigators did find clean broken glass outside below a window outside the home.

State fire investigator Keith Rodenhiser testified at the hearing that accidental causes, which included a nearby wood stove, electrical cords and outlets were ruled out after finding no deficiencies.

“The glass is significant because it proves the window was broken out prior to the ignition of the fire rather than as a result of the fire,” the affidavit said.

Investigators have been looking into past interactions between Walsh and Hamel, and there is some information to indicate there may have been a sexual assault at some point, authorities said.

“Walsh may have been a victim of an alleged sexual assault in the past,” said Rodenhiser on the stand, adding the claim is under investigation.

Chatel was also called as a witness, and said on the stand that Hamel has no convictions on his record, but that the police had dealt with him previously regarding allegations against him of aggravated felonious sexual assault, lewdness and animal cruelty.

When investigators questioned Hamel’s family members, who live next door, his sister-inlaw mentioned that there had been an altercation between Walsh and Hamel this past December in which Hamel was beaten.

No police reports of that incident were made, according to Chatel, but investigators are aware of a history that the sister- in-law declined to elaborate on with police, according to the affidavit.

Longtime officers promoted

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:26:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

The Weare Police Department recently rewarded two of its veteran officers, giving promotions to Lt. James Carney and Sgt. Robert Peterson.

Carney, who was a sergeant, has been a member of the department for 15 years, while Peterson has been on board for five of his own. Peterson credits much of his success in the department to the close work he has gotten with Carney over their years in Weare.

“I consider him a personal friend as well as a mentor. I wouldn’t have been prepared for this position if it weren’t for him,” Peterson said. “He has gone above and beyond his role here to show us more than the basic functions. He’s one of the most compassionate and caring officers I’ve ever worked with.”

Carney said his and Peterson’s passion for law enforcement has been one reason they have grown so close.

“Bob and I have the same philosophies about what the department is looking for and what we want to see in the community,” said Carney. “We’re working in a positive direction for the things we’re trying to implement, which is why we get along so well.”

Peterson, formerly the school resource officer, has been able to connect well with the community, spending a great deal of time out in town speaking with residents.

“His ability to get along so well with members of the community is what has made him successful,” said Carney. “He’s always there to lend an ear, and people like and respect him for that. He listens a lot instead of talking a lot.

He is able to work things out with people a lot better than many people can. That’s what makes him so approachable.”

Carney’s new role will mean less time patrolling the streets and more administrative work with the department, as well as a greater workload.

“My responsibilities have increased,” said Carney. “But I’m not going to let that affect the main reason I got into this field, which is to help people.”

Peterson’s new role will have him out in the Weare community the majority of the time, something he looks forward to.

“We can be familiar with the personalities. People can feel less treated like a number and more like a human being,” said Peterson. “I like small-town law enforcement because it gives you a chance to do a little of everything.”

House destroyed, man charged with arson

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:29:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A Weare man has been charged with arson, criminal threatening, burglary and two counts of reckless conduct after he allegedly broke into a house and burned it down.

Police arrested Peter Walsh, 27, of 126 Abijah Road on Sunday, April 13, for breaking into and setting a house on fire and pointing a gun at the home owner shortly before 5 a.m. on Saturday, April 12.

At his arraignment in Goffstown District Court on Monday, April 14, a judge set Walsh’s bail at $50,000 cash.

Weare police detective and prosecutor Lou Chatel said he asked for $100,000 bail due to the severity of the crimes alleged, but given Walsh’s lack of a substantial criminal record, the request was denied. “Last I knew, he was headed back to Valley Street,” Chatel said.

According to Chatel’s police affidavit, which includes testimony from other officers and state fire marshal inspectors, Vernon Hamel was asleep when he heard what sounded like his door being broken down at around 4:30 a.m. on April 12.

When he emerged from his bedroom to investigate the noise, Hamel told police he saw Walsh outside of his home heading toward the back of his house.

In an interview with Chatel and Fire Marshal officer Stacey Dubois, Hamel said Walsh had shown up at his home in December 2007 and repeatedly punched Hamel in the face when the front door opened.

Another witness to the fire on April 12 said Hamel and Walsh had problems in the past, as far back as 10 years ago, according to the affidavit.

Chatel said police are still looking into that past relationship, adding there are no police reports relating to it.

Hamel said in the interview that the phone didn’t work when he attempted to call 911 after seeing Walsh outside, and a check of the phone cable leading to the home revealed it had been cut. A large piece of wood shattered one of the front windows, according to the affidavit, which Hamel said he believed Walsh retrieved from a pile of similar wood outside Hamel’s home. After a second window was broken, Hamel said, he went to the back of the home and heard someone climbing into the house.

“Having no way to exit, Mr. Hamel grabbed a pieced of wood and went towards the front room and now saw Peter Walsh standing inside his house next to a wall that was on fire. Mr. Hamel stated that Walsh said he was ‘going to burn him out,’” Chatel wrote in the affidavit.

At that point, according to the affidavit, Hamel said he picked up a piece of wood and struck Walsh, simultaneously pushing him toward the front door.

When Walsh was outside, Hamel said he tried using a fire extinguisher in an attempt to smother the flames. Walsh was breaking more windows, Hamel reported.

Hamel then told police he looked up through one window to find Walsh standing outside with a gun pointed at him. Hamel said Walsh told him he was going to shoot him.

When the escalating fire prevented Walsh from entering the home again, he drove off in what Hamel said was a green Toyota, similar to one he had seen Walsh driving before, which he believed to belong to one of Walsh’s family members.

Hamel said in the interview that the same green car with the lights off came back down the street half an hour later. Fearing for his life, Hamel ran to his brother and sister-in-law’s home next door.

By the time police and fire personnel responded, the singlefamily wooden home was fully ablaze, making entry impossible. Officers found Hamel next door shortly after arriving.

When Weare police Sgt. James Carney arrived at Walsh’s home to question him later that afternoon, they discovered a green Toyota Prius sitting in Walsh’s driveway which they later found was registered to one of Walsh’s family members.

Walsh denied being at Hamel’s home at the time of the fire, but further questioning from Carney led Walsh to request counsel and deny he made the statement to Carney that he was not present, according to the affidavit.

A K-9 unit went through the house to detect accelerants, but nothing of that nature was found. After examining electrical wires and outlets, the woodstove, heater and other possible sources, fire investigators determined there was no evidence of accidental causes for the fire’s eruption.

The fire started in the front part of the home by the kitchen, according to the affidavit. While there was little physical evidence found at the scene, investigators did find clean broken glass outside below a window outside the home.

“The glass is significant because it proves the window was broken out prior to the ignition of the fire rather than as a result of the fire,” the affidavit says.

A probable cause hearing on the case is set for April 24 at 1 p.m. in Goffstown District Court.

No charges for dad for TV comments

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:05:00 GMT

BY GRETA CUYLER

Police will not charge the father who said he wished he’d tied a rope around his daughter’s boyfriend’s neck and dragged him behind his car.

It was one week ago that Gilberto Soto, 38, of Weare, appeared on ABC’s “20/20” and said he wished he’d done more than beat up then-17-year-old Damon Hadley after learning the boy had sex with his underage daughter.

Soto told the “20/20” interviewer: “So I hit him. Do I regret what I did? No. Would I do it differently? Yes, I would, I would. Now? Take that kid, stick him in the car, tie a rope around his neck and go as fast as I could up and down the highways, every single highway there is.”

His daughter was 15-and-a-half years old, six months shy of the state’s legal age of consent.

“We will not be going forward on any charges,” said Detective Lou Chatel. “The law wasn’t broken.”

Earlier last week, after Hadley’s lawyer requested Soto be charged for criminal threatening based on his television comments, Soto explained he was no threat to the boy.

“My comment on “20/20” was what I would do differently. Damon and young men like Damon need to understand that these young girls have fathers that want to protect them,” Soto said.

Chatel said Soto’s comments referred to what he would have done and was not an imminent threat.

After “20/20” aired, Hadley filed an affidavit saying Soto’s comments frightened him.

“Although it is certainly within the prosecutor’s discretion to charge or not charge any case, I believe this situation called for charges and punishment for Soto,” Hadley’s attorney, George “Skip” Campbell, said.

“We can only hope the backlash and outrage caused by this threat will deter Soto from taking any further criminal actions.”

Hadley and Soto’s daughter were caught skipping school last fall, and the girl told police Hadley raped her. Although she later admitted to police she lied, Hadley was charged with sexual assault because he admitted the two had sex.

Soto was charged with assault for beating up Hadley.

Both eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault; Soto was sentenced to 12 months in jail; Hadley to three months. Both sentences were suspended on condition of good behavior.

Yphantis cleared, tries to move on

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:35:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Mark Yphantis said he is trying to move on with his life after charges of conspiring to assault a Weare police officer – and accepting $700 to do it – and being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon were dropped at a probable cause hearing on Monday, March 11.

“We did a further investigation, which revealed that we wouldn’t be going forward with the charges,” Weare Detective Lou Chatel said, adding only that the testimony of other parties had been added to the investigation and that Yphantis surrendered a 14-inch Bowie knife to police, eliminating the Class B weapon possession felony.

He would not elaborate on what information came to light that changed the investigation’s course. “I’m very limited to what they’ll let me say,” Chatel said.

Yphantis, 47, of 186 A Concord Stage Road, was arrested Jan. 28 on allegations he was plotting to run Weare Police Sgt. James Carney off the road and further to strike him with his elbow, according to a police affidavit from Carney.

“When I got charged with everything, I was on the front page, and now all the articles are on the back page,” Yphantis said of recent reports about the dropped charges.

“Everybody has skeletons in their closet, but mine are all out in the papers,” Yphantis, a felon who has served hard time for a 1998 assault in which a woman went down a flight of stairs and broke her hip, said.

He added he is having an exceptionally hard time finding work since his arrest.

“I tried to get my old job back. They won’t even talk to me,” Yphantis said.

Possible new employers have recognized his name and face from news reports and have turned him down at several interviews, he said.

Police made the arrest based on police interviews with Robert Phelps, 88, of 30 Merrill Road. Phelps told police that his daughter had given Yphantis money to help him while he was out of work.

Phelps said the money was not intended as a pay off to harm officer Carney, but that Yphantis mistakenly understood the money as such. At first, Phelps originally told police it was between $7,000 and $8,000 but later corrected himself, saying the amount was actually $700.

Yphantis, who said the money was a loan for his rent, had been a witness to a shooting on Phelps’ property that occurred in 2007, after Yphantis said he finished an addition on Phelps’ home.

According to Carney’s affidavit, Phelps began to interfere with responding officers’ efforts to treat the shooting victim. Carney tried to lead Phelps away from the scene, and somehow Phelps fell to the ground and cut his arm.

According to police, Yphantis cooperated fully with that investigation.

Phelps agreed to call Yphantis to confirm his claims on Jan. 26. Yphantis’ girlfriend answered the phone and said Yphantis was sleeping, asking Phelps to call back later. He did, and on this call told Yphantis’ girlfriend he wanted to offer Yphantis $2,000 to “deal with Sgt. Carney,” adding he had a “run-in” with Carney that day.

“(Yphantis’ girlfriend) stated Yphantis was not acting himself tonight and would contact Phelps in the morning. It was apparent that (she) has prior knowledge of her boyfriend’s intent to harm Sgt. Carney. According to Phelps, (she) did not question Phelps about what he said,” the affidavit says. Yphantis said he holds no grudges against the Weare Police Department, and praised Chatel for remaining professional and neutral during the course of the investigation.

“They didn’t know the whole story, and they needed to find it out,” said Yphantis of Weare police. “They just overreacted a little bit,” adding he understands the mind set that would compel any police officer to protect a fellow officer in situations such as this one.

He admitted his status as a felon certainly didn’t help steer the investigation in his favor. “There’s a lot of people that stereotype you in situations before they even know you. Yeah, I’m a felon, but lots of people are felons. Let’s look at the situation that happened,” Yphantis said.

Chatel said while it was discussed at one point, there have never been any plans to charge Phelps with anything for his role in the alleged transaction to harm Carney or for filing false reports of any kind, and said the case was officially closed.

While he has gained some support from members of the community, Yphantis said he will likely move out of the Weare area to get away from the incident.

He added he has no plans to take any civil action against the town of Weare or the police department.

Beating not enough says father of girl who had underage sex with boyfriend

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:24:00 GMT

BY GRETA CUYLER

The father who beat up his daughter’s boyfriend after learning the two had had sex appeared on ABC’s “20/20” Friday, March 14, and spoke publicly about the incident for the first time. “So I hit him,” said Gilberto Soto, the girl’s father. “Do I regret what I did? No. Would I do it differently? Yes, I would, I would.

“Now? Take that kid, stick him in the car, tie a rope around his neck and go as fast as I could up and down the highways, every single highway there is,” Soto said, then clarified that he meant drag the boy at the end of a rope behind his car.

The show was called the “Age of Consent.” Soto, 38, is from Weare. Last fall his 15- 1/2-year-old daughter had sex with her then-17-year-old boyfriend, Damon Hadley. Hadley is 18 now.

When school officials caught the two cutting school, the girl alleged Hadley had raped her, according to authorities. Although she later admitted to police she lied, Hadley was charged with sexual assault because he admitted the two had had sex, and under state law, a person cannot consent to sex until the age of 16. Soto was charged with assault.

Both eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault; Soto was sentenced to 12 months in jail and Hadley to three months. Both sentences were suspended on condition of good behavior.

Soto told “20/20” he’s upset Hadley didn’t go to jail. “He should’ve done at least a year,” he said.

Asked if maybe his daughter lied about being raped because she was scared of her father, Soto replied, “My kids don’t have reason to be scared of me.”

Hadley’s lawyer said he hopes Soto will be charged with criminal threatening.

“It is my fervent hope that Soto be charged, convicted and incarcerated for these types of hateful and alarming comments that have no place in our society,” said Concord attorney George “Skip” Campbell.

He said Soto’s comment brings to mind the 1998 killing of James Byrd in Texas. Three men beat up Byrd, stripped him of his clothing, tied a chain around his waist and dragged him for 3 miles.

Lisa Hadley, Damon’s mother, said she’s worried for her son.

“I was worried for him that day in the nurse’s office after he got beat up ...,’’ Lisa Hadley said. “And then to hear him on national TV saying this. Yeah, I’m worried. He got away with what he did to my son.”

Damon Hadley remembers the day Soto beat him up. “I didn’t move at all, I just froze,” Damon said in an interview last month. “I didn’t know what to do. Her dad hit me. I was on the ground. I just remember him standing on top of me and hitting me.

“He kept saying, ‘Did you (have sex with) my daughter?’”

Man arrested for cop attack plot

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:18:00 GMT

By Michelle Kim

Police arrested a Weare man Sunday night, Jan. 27, after learning he allegedly intended to assault a Weare officer after being paid, according to court documents.

Mark E. Yphanitis, 47, of 186A Concord Stage Road, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit simple assault on a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor, and felon in possession of a deadly weapon, a Class B felony.

Weare police were first alerted on Friday, Jan. 25, when Weare resident Robert Phelps, 88, came to the station and told them that Yphantis would try to assault officer James Carney, a 15-year veteran of the Weare Police Department.

He stated that Yphanits was “training” and that he was in fear of Yphantis, according to the police affidavit prepared by Carney.

Earlier in the month, around Jan. 5, Yphantis asked Phelps, who had previously employed him for handiwork on his properties, for assistance after losing his job.

Phelps told police he had given Yphantis $700. A relative described the money as a loan and said Yphantis hadn’t asked for such assistance before. Phelps said that Yphantis believed it was to assault Carney, although Phelps denied that it was for an assault.

The two had talked about Carney, and Yphantis described how he was going to catch Carney off guard, running him off the road and “striking him in the head with his elbows,” according to the affidavit.

The two men were familiar with Carney from an incident of attempted homicide that occurred on Phelps’ property in 2007.

Yphantis had been a witness in the incident, cooperating with police and the investigation. Carney had been one of the first responders on the scene and brought Phelps away from the crime scene. In the process, Phelps fell, receiving a cut on the arm, and was upset with Carney at the time for treating him unfairly, according to the police affidavit. At the time, Yphantis told Phelps that he could “handle Sgt. Carney.”

On Saturday evening, Jan. 26, police had Phelps call Yphantis and offer $2,000 to “deal” with Sgt. Carney. Yphantis’s girlfriend answered the phone and said he would contact Phelps in the morning.

When Weare police arrested Yphantis at his home on Sunday, Jan. 27, shortly before 11 p.m., after the issuance of an arrest warrant, they found a 14-inch Bowie knife under his mattress and charged him with felon in posession of a deadly weapon.

Yphantis had been previously convicted of a second-degree simple assault felony in 1998 for pushing a female associate down the stairs, causing her to break her hip, and eventually served time in state prison, according to court documents at the Hillsborough County Superior Court.

Yphantis was arraigned Monday morning, Jan. 28, in Merrimack District Court with bail set at $10,000 cash or corporate surety. He has a probable cause hearing scheduled for Goffstown District Court on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Police did not charge Yphantis with criminal threatening because some variables weren’t applicable to the situation, said Detective Lou Chatel. He said Carney is working on a normal schedule.

Officers, firefighters requested

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:14:00 GMT

By Michelle Kim

WEARE – New buildings and bodies are the main requests voters will see before them at the upcoming Feb. 2 deliberative session of Town Meeting,

Voters can expect to see articles on the town warrant regarding the operating budget, as well as improvements to the Bolton Field Memorial Complex, a new public works and transfer station facility, requests for additional police officers and full-time firefighter/EMT personnel, and a standardized pay-raise merit system for town employees.

The proposed operating budget came in at $4.7 million, about 9.5 percent more than last year, which was a default budget, and 2.8 percent more than the default budget for 2008. The proposed operating budget would have a property tax impact of $2.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Town Administrator Fred Ventresco said this operating budget is similar to last year’s proposed budget.

“Both years the board has tried to hold the line as much as possible. If you see increases, it’s mainly for fuel and necessities,” he said. “It’s really bread and butter issues.”

Among approximately 41 articles on the warrant, seven deal with zoning ordinance changes, four assign land parcels to conservation commission care and four are petitioned articles.

At the Jan. 21 meeting, where the Board of Selectmen decided which articles to recommend, much of the discussion circled around reluctance to hire staff or make major expenditures in the face of a possible economic recession.

An article on the Bolton Field Memorial Complex that would issue a $125,000 10-year bond for improvements narrowly failed to win the board’s recommendation in a 3-2 vote. Selectmen Heleen Kurk, Wendy Clark and Donna Osborne supported the idea but not the timing.

The $900,000 bond for a new Public Works and Transfer Station facility did win unanimous selectmen approval.

The board decided not to recommend the articles requesting $92,000 for two new police officers, $80,000 for two full-time firefighters/EMTs to cover the daytime shift starting halfway into the year and approximately $23,000 for EMTs to cover weekends and holiday, starting halfway into the year.

A petitioned article to turn the building department secretary’s part-time position into a full-time position for $16,769 also did not win the board’s recommendation.

Other petitioned articles call for tax exemptions for solar energy, a reduction in the amount of land use change tax that goes toward the conservation commission from 75 percent to 50 percent and a non-binding resolution to reject the “pledge” against new taxes, introduced in multiple New Hampshire town warrants by a group called the Granite State Fair Tax Coalition.

One article that the board withheld making recommendation for or against was the $125,000 article for implementing a step merit-based pay scale system for nonunion town employees.

Clark and Kurk said they commended the work of the committee that had established the pay scale, but had gone over the numbers and felt the figure in the article was high.

Clark said she could not recommend the article.

“If we are in a recession, it’s going to be a long one. It’s a lot to ask taxpayers to step up,” she said.

Kurk supported the idea behind the article but not the figure.

Since the figures in the articles could not be changed until the deliberative session, the board decided to meet in a workshop to possibly come up with a viable alternative to present to voters at the deliberative session.

“I want this to pass and the only way it’ll pass is if the whole board supports it,” said Chairman Tom Clow.

Rape trial delayed

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:09:00 GMT

BY MICHELLE KIM
The trial of the 17-year-old assaulted by his 15- year-old girlfriend’s father at John Stark Regional High School was postponed until Jan. 3 to determine if there were issues of self-incrimination for the victim.

The trial of the 17-year-old assaulted by his 15- year-old girlfriend’s father at John Stark Regional High School was postponed until Jan. 3 to determine if there were issues of self-incrimination for the victim.

The boy was charged with a sexual assault misdemeanor after the girl’s family learned the two had sex.

Weare prosecuting attorney Lt. Mark Bodanza, who said he has the discretion to continue with the charges, spoke with the victim and her family recently and they expressed the desire to see the case prosecuted.

The 15-year-old gave a statement to police that she had been raped and later said that report was false, according to court documents. Making a false statement to police can carry a penalty of up to a $2,000 fine and a year in jail if charged as a Class B misdemeanor and a $1,000 fine if charged as a Class A misdemeanor, according to Weare police.

The victim and her mother appeared at Goffstown District Court on Tuesday, Nov. 27, with their lawyer, Barbara Landry, of Amherst, who specializes in family law. The prosecution is still determining whether to apply for immunity for the victim, which can only be granted by the county attorney or state Attorney General, because of Fifth Amendment issues against self-incrimination.

The father of the 15-year-old girl faces a probable cause hearing for simple assault, a Class B felony, at Goffstown District Court on Dec. 18. The father has pleaded guilty to assault misdemeanors in the past, according to court documents.

In 1987, he was found guilty on two counts of misdemeanor simple assault in Manchester District Court. The incident occurred on May 17, 1987, involving a 10-year-old boy and 12-year-old boy. He was 17 at the time and was described as striking them several times with his fists.

He appealed and then pleaded guilty to the charges in Hillsborough Superior Court, and was sentenced a total fine of $300, $100 of which was suspended, and 60 days at the Hillsborough County House of Corrections, which was also suspended.

He was also convicted of receiving stolen goods in 2001.

The 17-year-old Henniker boy and the 15-year-old girl, who had been secretly seeing each other, left school grounds the morning of Sept. 10 and later admitted to having sex at his parents’ house.

The girl’s father allegedly assaulted the boy in the school parking lot after being told his daughter had been raped.

The 17-year-old had injuries requiring stitches and the father was charged with a Class B felony, simple assault. Because the girl is younger than 16, consent cannot be legally given. The 17- year-old was charged as an adult with a misdemeanor because the two are less than three years apart.

Daughter injured in dad’s DUI crash

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:34:00 GMT

BY MICHELLE KIM

An 11-year-old girl was seriously injured in a car crash after being ejected from the vehicle driven by her father, who was arrested for driving under the influence, according to Weare police.

William Lambroukos, 37, of Weare was driving a 1998 Chevrolet Lumina sedan northbound on River Road Saturday, Nov. 10, when he lost control of the vehicle shortly before 7 p.m. He swerved and struck a rock embankment on the side of the road with such force a tire was torn off. His daughter, Britany, an honor roll student at Weare Middle School, was thrown from the car by the impact.

She was airlifted to Dartmouth- Hitchock Hospital in Lebanon and was in serious condition as of Monday night, according to police.

Her father was taken to Concord Hospital and later airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital.

Lambroukos was arrested for aggravated driving while under the influence and released on $50,000 personal recognizance bail. He is scheduled for arraignment at Goffstown District Court on Dec. 11. Police believe neither were wearing seat belts.

Lambroukos was involved in a four-hour standoff with the police at his River Road home back in January. The data systems expert was reportedly suicidal after losing his job and had shot the telephones in the house before accidentally shooting himself in the ankle. He was arrested after police drove him out of the house with pepper spray.