Alleged Harassment, Assault Threats Lead to Arrest at Concord Gardens

CONCORD, NH — A local man who already has been arrested a number of times for assault and other charges is in more trouble with police after an incident at the Concord Gardens earlier this month, according to a police report and court affidavit. Jackson Rwigema, 35, of Loudon Road in Concord, was arrested on March 7, 2017, for simple assault and resisting arrest.

Editor’s Note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the name removal request process for NH Patch police reports.

According to a report, at around 8 p.m. on the date in question, an officer was sent to an apartment at the Gardens for a report of an intoxicated man harassing people and making assault threats. As the first officer arrived, he found six people standing near one of the apartments pointing across the complex at people who appeared to be involved in a physical confrontation.

As the officer approached, he found three men – Rwigema and two others – and allegedly saw Rwigema “pushing and yelling” at the other two men while they had “raised their arms as if to calm him down,” the report alleged. Rwigema then allegedly raised a water bottle over his head, attempting to throw it at the other men, so they began moving away from him, the affidavit alleged.

The officer – now about two yards away – ordered Rwigema not to throw the bottle and he allegedly threw it and struck one of the men in the chest. Rwigema reportedly started looking around, as if he was finding something else to throw, and the officer attempted to stop him by wrapping his arms around Rwigema from behind.

“He twisted his body in my arms and tried to break free so I brought him to the ground,” the officer alleged. “(The bystanders) urged him to stop resisting but he continued to struggle with me on the ground.”

At one point, the officer alleged, Rwigema turned his body toward the officer, looked at him, and allegedly pulled harder in an effort to get away. He was ordered to stop but allegedly continued to twist and resist.

Eventually, the officer moved Rwigema’s right hand out from under him and into handcuffs but even after that, he allegedly grabbed onto the officer’s hand and squeezed, to try and “inflict pain onto my hand,” the officer alleged.

A second officer assisted and Rwigema was transported to police headquarters, refused bail, and was held.

According to reports online, Rwigema has had a number of run-ins with police in the last couple of years. In February 2015, after reportedly driving too slow on Christian Avenue, he was stopped and charged for operating without a valid license. A few months later, in April 2015, he allegedly assaulted his wife with a cooking pot and a phone charger on Cherry Street after he spilled beans on the floor. In Pembroke, in June 2015, he was arrested after a traffic stop on an active bench warrant out of Concord District Court.

In February 2016, he was arrested on a Hooksett District Court warrant for nonappearance after police were sent to the Gardens for a 911 hang up call.