By Dan O’BrienThe Hooksett Police Department, coping with personnel disputes and disciplinary action, spent more than $175,000 in legal fees in fiscal 2009, substantially more than what was spent in some similar-sized communities. “We continue, like other departments, to hold our people accountable,” Chief Stephen Agrafiotis ...

By Dan O’Brien Holding signs that read, “Support SRO Defina” and “Agrafiotis is our dirty laundry,” a group of a dozen people held a protest against the town’s police chief outside the Wednesday, Nov. 4, Town Council meeting. The group set up a clothes line that held protest signs with clothes pins while one ...

By Dan O’Brien Chrissy Curran was surprised, but not overly shocked, when someone broke into her unlocked Whitehall Terrace home in June. It was probably some mischievous kids, she thought. Only an iPod and a plastic container of loose change were stolen. “It was small and it seemed random,” Curran said. But then it happened ...

By Dan O’BrienThe labor union representing fired Hooksett police officer Jason Defina has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the state Public Employee Labor Relations Board. The complaint, filed Oct. 16, accuses Hooksett Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis and the Hooksett Police Commission of terminating Defina without just cause ...

BY DAN O'BRIEN Neighbors of a convicted child rapist whose house is within feet of a school bus stop say their concerns are falling on deaf ears. Gayle Gillespie says there was no police officer patrolling the bus stop on Monday, Sept. 28 -- something a police captain said would happen every day at the previous Town Council meeting on ...

BY DAN O'BRIEN Hooksett’s three Police Commission members said they would recuse themselves from handling a grievance filed by former police officer Jason Defina. Defina, a 10-year Hooksett Police Department veteran, was fired by the commission in a 2-1 vote Sept. 8. The decision, made Sept. 28, comes less than two weeks after state ...

Dan O’Brien The chairman of the Hooksett Police Commission is defending the Hooksett police chief, who reportedly made a remark to a town councilor that some interpreted as a threat. “He could not have said that,” said David Gagnon, Police Commission chairman. Gagnon is referring to a comment Chief Stephen Agrafiotis allegedly ...

By DanO’BrienHooksett police officer Jason Defina, the school resource officer who was reassigned last spring despite community objections, was fired by the Hooksett Police Commission on Sept. 8. Defina, 35, a Marine Corps veteran who has been with the Police Department since 1999, said he plans a legal fight to get his job back. “I ...

By Lauren Sausser Hooksett Police Chief Steve Agrafiotis made no indication of whether he’d reinstate former school resource officer Jason Defina into that position again, even after two teenage girls pleaded for him to do so at a Police Commission meeting on July 21. “(Officer Defina) really has made an impact on our school,” ...

By Eddie Wilson A report detailing problems at the Hooksett Safety Center proposes between $500,000 and $3.5 million in repairs. The building housing the police and fire stations has been plagued with problems since it was built in 1996, with leaks and other issues. The report notes these problems can result in “sick building ...