‘What beer?’
Colleen Collins, 45, of Concord was arrested on March 21 on charges of theft, possession of an open container on private property and breach of bail conditions.
According to Officer Melissa Pfefferle’s report, she was dispatched to the Hess station on North Main Street around 4:10 p.m. for a report that a woman had stolen a can of beer. A Hess employee described the woman as wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and said she had bruising around her left eye.
After a brief search, Pfefferle found a woman who fit the description and that she recognized to be Collins. Pfefferle wrote that as she approached, Collins placed a 24 oz. can of Natural Ice down in front of her. According to the report, Pfefferle asked Collins where she got the beer and Collins responded, “what beer?”
“I told her the one in front of her on the ground,” Pfefferle wrote. “Her response again was, ‘what beer? I didn’t do anything.’ ”
Pfefferle wrote that she picked up the beer and asked Collins to walk back toward the Hess Station with her. Once at the gas pumps, Pfefferle had dispatch contact the clerk to identify Collins. The clerk responded that Collins was indeed the woman who had stolen the beer.
Pfefferle asked Collins how she got the beer. At this point, Collins said she bought it from the Hess station, Pfefferle wrote.
“I then told Collins she was under arrest for theft and open container on private property,” Pfefferle wrote. “You f—ing serious?” Collins said, according to Pfefferle.
After arresting Collins and bringing her to the station, Pfefferle began the booking process but, according to the report, Collins became uncooperative. Collins continued swearing and said, “just take me to jail,” Pfefferle wrote.
Collins refused the services of a bail commissioner and was taken to the Merrimack County House of Corrections. Later, Pfefferle discovered that Collins was out on bail and that one of her conditions was to “keep the peace and be of good behavior.” At this point, Pfefferle added the charge of breach of bail conditions to the other charges.
Collins was due in court on March 22.
Small fire
On March 19 at around 9 p.m., Officer Laura Spaulding was dispatched to Walmart for a small fire in the parking lot that the police believed may have been deliberately set.
According to Spaulding’s report, when she arrived she saw a group of young men near a vehicle with the hood up. They pointed to a pickup truck on the lot’s west side, she wrote.
When she approached the truck, Spaulding wrote that she saw a burned box on the ground near the driver’s side. She added that the box had a large wet spot around it.
At first, Spaulding could not see anyone in the vehicle. However, she wrote that as she got closer she saw a man later identified as David Bishop, 53, of Dracut, Mass., ducking down in the driver’s seat.
When she asked Bishop for his license, he told her that he didn’t have it and that it was in Massachusetts, Spaulding wrote. He showed her a bracelet he was wearing that had his name and date of birth on it. According to the report, Spaulding asked where he got the bracelet from and Bishop replied, “prison.”
Spaulding wrote that while speaking to Bishop, she noticed a strong odor of alcohol and that his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped. There were several Miller beer cans in the truck, including an open one sitting in the cup holder, the report says.
Dispatch ran the truck’s license plate numbers through the Department of Motor Vehicles and discovered that Bishop’s license was suspended. During this time, Officer Craig Levesque and Sgt. Ranee Boyd arrived at the Walmart. Levesque asked Bishop what happened to the box on the ground, and Bishop admitted that he lit the box on fire to burn it up, Spaulding wrote. The box was a cardboard Miller High Life 12-pack.
Spaulding asked Bishop how he had gotten to Walmart and Bishop replied that he had driven there, Spaulding wrote. According to the report, Bishop said he was just sitting in his truck drinking beer and was then going to visit a friend at a trailer park up the road.
Spaulding arrested Bishop on the charges of driving after suspension, disorderly conduct and transportation of alcohol in an open container. At the police station, bail commissioner Dale St. Laurent set a $1,500 cash bail. Bishop was due in court on March 22.
