Accused Concord Prowler Leads Police On Chase Through North End

CONCORD, NH — Concord police, firefighters, and a New Hampshire State Police K-9 unit were kept busy this morning after an officer meeting with a suspected prowler on Storrs Street led to a chase through the North End Sunday. At around 6 a.m., an officer spotted a man with a backpack loitering underneath the Loudon Road bridge at Storrs Street near construction equipment. The officer spoke to the man, who didn't have identification, and ran a check on him.

The man gave a name to the officer, dispatch checked it for warrants, and said the man was OK. But the officer asked for some other physical descriptors – height, weight, hair color, and tattoos. Dispatch gave him some and while the officer was trying to check to see if a tattoo matched one given as a descriptor, the man bolted, according to the officer.

The man ran along the railroad tracks, past The Friendly Kitchen, to the I-393 overpass, and just after that, reportedly dumped his backpack and later, removed his pants, near the city prosecutor's office, according to scanner chatter. Other officers began to drive to the area to assist the first officer who stated that the man ran along the tracks at Morrill Farm at Horseshoe Pond and headed into the woods.

When officers caught up to him, the man jumped into the pond and began to swim to the North State Street side.

Dispatch contacted Concord Fire to see if they could launch a boat and they staged near the old Verizon building while another officer attempted to search for the backpack.

When the man reached the other side of the pond though, a number of police officers and a New Hampshire State Police K-9 unit were there to meet him.

The man refused to come out of the water and a standoff, of sorts, ensued, for about an hour, with officers attempting to get the man to get out of the water. Officers discussed whether they were going to go into the water to try to get him out and chose not to go into the pond and, instead, wait him out.

The officer searching for the backpack asked for some visual assistance because she couldn't find it. The first officer told her, "look for the pants in the bushes," and that is where the backpack would be, according to scanner chatter.

At just before 7:45 a.m., the man came out of the water and was taken into custody. While in the ambulance, police were able to positively identify him as Jesse Collins, 24, of Curtisville Road in Concord, and accused him of admitting to being "high on meth." He was then taken by fire and rescue to Concord Hospital to be evaluated.

After being cleared from the hospital, Collins was held on an active electronic bench cash bail only warrant. He was also charged with loitering/prowling and resisting arrest or detention. Officers also retrieved his backpack, according to the department's watch commander.

Previously, according to reports on Patch and other media outlets, Collins has been arrested a number of times during the past seven years.

In March, Collins was arrested in Port Charlotte, Florida, by the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office on possession of drug paraphernalia and false identification. He was released on $4,000 bond, according to the Charlotte Sun Herald. In February, Collins was arrested in Concord on a warrant after police were sent to the parking lot of the Red Arrow Diner on Loudon Road for a report of an overdose. Back in January 2016, he was arrested on a felony drug charge from an incident on Curtice Avenue in November 2015. In April 2014, he was arrested on drug and other charges after a traffic stop due to an expired inspection sticker. Police also accused Collins of hiding syringes in his butt during that incident. And in July 2012, he was arrested on Thorndike Street on driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest or detention, transportation of alcohol beverages by a minor, unlawful possession of alcohol, possession of controlled drugs, possession of drugs, and criminal trespass.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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