Concord Detective Arrested, Held On Assault And Other Charges

CONCORD, NH — A Concord police detective was arrested Friday on several charges after a multi-month investigation into a strangulation incident against a woman.

Bryan Croft, 39, of Songbird Drive in Concord was charged with second-degree assault, two counts of witness tampering, and two counts of falsifying physical evidence, all felonies, as well as a single domestic violence charge.

The case came to fruition after a Concord lieutenant and a state police lieutenant received a tip from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families accusing Croft of assaulting a woman on Oct. 17, 2020, according to court documents and investigatory materials received by Patch. Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood requested New Hampshire State Police investigate the allegation, since the department does not handle criminal investigations of its own officers, and later, an investigator with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, began looking into the case, too.

ALSO READ:

• Concord Police Detective On Leave During Assault Investigation

Not long after the October 2020 incident, DCYF received an anonymous tip about possible issues in the Croft household.

Did you like this story? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch!

The source offered a statement claiming Croft choked the woman while she was holding their child, according to an affidavit. The woman reportedly fought off the attack — kicking and punching Croft to stop him, the report said. Croft was then accused of locking the woman, their child, and another child out of the house.

"(The victim) reached inside with her left arm in an attempt to unlock the chain latch," the report stated. "When the door was slammed, (it) closed on her left arm (causing) a significant bruise."

A witness was then interviewed and confirmed the second-hand source's information. Investigators then went to meet with the victim but at the same time, DCYF and Croft were at the home. The victim, according to the report, denied there was an argument and assault. She also refused to allow her arm to be inspected to see if there was an injury.

A request to inspect the home was granted and Croft escorted DCYF and the detectives around. The reporting detective noted the home was "nice and clean," and no sign of children being neglected.

A DCYF employee, however, insisted on speaking with the child — something the victim protested, in front of the investigators. Later, she granted the request.

The next day, a detective spoke with the original source and was able to trace back the anonymous tip to DCYF — a third contact. That source explained that they were a medical provider and were required, by law, to report any instances of possible abuse or danger in a home to DCYF. The tipster, who was connected to the child witness, was interviewed and explained everything the child stated about the alleged strangulation. They also stated there were other incidents in the home including Croft kicking down a bathroom door so that it no longer shuts, the report said. The child also stated they were "afraid of being around Bryan Croft and that (he) may harm the victim," an affidavit said.

Confidential advocates are available 24/7 through New Hampshire’s statewide domestic violence helpline at 1-866-644-3574. You do not need to be in crisis to call.

Detectives applied for and were granted a search warrant to inspect the victim for injuries. A detective met with other investigators and attempted to meet with the victim and speak with her.

"She had nothing to say," the report said, "and she was not interested in speaking with (the) detective. She further informed the detective that nothing happened and she had nothing more to say."

After being informed about the search warrant to inspect her body for injuries, she requested time to tend to a family matter, was allowed, and was gone "for what seemed like a long period of time." The detective knocked on the door and both Croft and the victim answered the door, the report said, and motioned the detective to the garage. There, investigators took pictures of the injuries which included a 4-inch squared bruise and another bruise that looked like a handprint — as if her arm was grabbed or squeezed.

Croft, the affidavit said, informed the detectives that the victim was willing to talk — something the reporting investigator said sounded strange. During a discussion, the victim seemed "indecisive" about talking with the detective noting that Croft was standing nearby. Croft later apologized for being present, the report said, and left the area. The victim stated she was injured by a Bow Flex machine when she lost her balance, and that was the cause of the bruising.

After discussing the case with DCFY, a safety plan was put together for the woman requiring Croft to move out of the home. The victim, however, stated that she feared for her life based on another man who might also be involved in the accusations against Croft from October, the report stated.

Croft was placed on leave by the Concord Police Department on Nov. 5.

During the next two weeks, detectives interviewed more witnesses, looked over what they had, and raised concern about some of the things they were hearing and not hearing about the case — including a possible recording on a baby monitor and cellphone.

After more interviews, including new witnesses, one witness accused Croft of admitting to the assault and that statement was recorded, according to an affidavit. Another witness also confirmed their prior statements to be accurate.

The victim again met with state police and became upset with their continuing investigation of the matter. She said the witnesses were being targeted by another person involved in family issues. Detectives told her they would be requesting search warrants for evidence but were also asking for "some level of cooperation" to settle the matter. A search warrant was issued to search both the victim's cellphone and a baby monitor later.

The victim, the detective noted, did not have recordings on her phone and denied having a monitor but agreed to let them search the baby's room. Detectives, however, found no baby monitor. They also reported not being able to gain access to the victim's cellphone, the report said.

After gathering more information, the attorney general's office took over the investigation.

During the course of their investigation, text messages were acquired from Croft and other family members.

On Jan. 4, the victim reached out to Concord police to state she was ready to talk about what happened and accused Croft of abuse dating back to when she was first pregnant, the report stated. Across text messages between an administrator at the Concord Police Department and the victim, she admitted the incident occurred, made accusations of drinking and domestic violence issues for two years, and that she thought her life was in danger and Croft would "kill her," an affidavit said. She expressed concern for her safety and noted that Croft had been carrying his off-duty firearm, the report said.

The victim and her attorney met with state detectives, the affidavit stated, and she walked them through the incidents — including the original fight that led to the choking and arm assault allegation which she claimed was an argument concerning affairs she accused Croft of having with other women. After falling down due to the choking and being "kind of blurry," she accused Croft of standing over her and kicking her. She also described being removed from the home, and trying to keep from being left outside without proper clothes, and the arm injury, after reaching in and having Croft slam the door on her, the affidavit stated.

Detectives reported the victim realized later the entire incident was recorded by the baby monitor which, normally, was not on, but had turned back on after a power outage, and recorded the entire incident. She watched, in horror, she said, the entire incident. Fearful that she might lose the recording, she recorded a backup of the assault to an iPad, the affidavit stated.

The victim stated she was caught off-guard when detectives first showed up at her house to interview her because she did not realize that they were at the home to discuss the October assault. She also accused Croft of orchestrating witnesses to not talk about the incident.

When asked about the lack of a baby monitor at the home, the report said the victim claimed it was removed by Croft after an argument they had where she told him that she had proof of the assault because it was recorded.

"Croft then made (the victim) delete everything off her phone, including the video and pictures," the affidavit said. "(The victim) stated she ended up deleting the photos she took of the injuries and the video she recorded of the video from the baby monitor."

Later, Croft removed the baby monitor and their Alexa unit from the home, she said.

The victim also stated after having data storage issues with her phone, she went to a local store and they assisted her with deleting data to make room on her phone.

"The (state police) extraction report indicated that the phone appears to have had significant data removed from the phone," the report said. "No video or pictures were removed from either the cellphone or iPad."

The report also accused Croft of being outside of the victim's attorney's office at the time of the interview with Concord police later noting that he appeared to be in a position "that would be consistent with someone conducting surveillance." Concord police contacted the victim and attorney after they left the attorney general's office and walked back to their vehicles.

The attorney general's office said Croft would be arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court at a later date.

Osgood, in a statement Friday, said Croft was on leave without pay and will remain so pending further review.

"We understand that Officer Bryan Croft was arrested today and placed on preventative detention without bail," he said. "The Attorney General's Office has been handling the criminal investigation and will be prosecuting the conduct set forth in the criminal complaints."

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

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.