Cops: Habitual Offender Gave Phony Name, Attempted to Avoid Arrest

A local man was arrested and held without bail after an early morning traffic stop in Bow earlier this month, according to police.

Robert Whiteside, 38, of Alton Woods Drive in Concord, was arrested on Nov. 1, 2015, and charged with felony habitual offender, disobeying a police officer, false reports to law enforcement, and unregistered vehicle.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Bow Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

According to a court affidavit, at around 1:15 a.m. on the date in question, a Bow Police officer ran the plate of a 2000 Nissan Maxima that was driving on Route 3A that came back with a status of “sold” and unregistered as of July 31, 2015.

The vehicle was stopped at the Concord line and the operator was asked for license and registration. The operator reportedly couldn’t provide an ID and was asked for a name and date of birth. The driver gave a date in 1981 as a birthdate but the officer wasn’t buying it.

“I confronted him about being untruthful,” the officer alleged. “The operator apologized and identified himself as ‘Robert White.’”

The driver reportedly stated he believed he was a habitual offender because he never de-certified himself when he had the opportunity, according to the affidavit. However, Bow dispatch was unable to find anything under the name of “White” with the birthdate. The driver countered that he also previously had a Massachusetts but dispatch couldn’t find anything in that state’s database either.

The driver was then arrested for disobeying a police officer for providing false information. During the process of being secured in the police cruiser, the driver allegedly stated that his real name was Robert Whiteside, according to the affidavit.

After running his name with the NH DMV, the officer found the Whiteside was certified as a habitual offender in February 2010. He also had an active warrant by the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Department for failure to appear in court, $10,000 cash bail, and a $250 cash warrant for nonappearance in court on a criminal trespass charge.

Whiteside was held without bail and transported to the Merrimack County House of Corrections and arraigned on Nov. 2.

According to online reports, Whiteside was arrested in August for impose-sentence in Rockingham County on a theft charge. He also allegedly gave a false name to Concord Police in August before they arrested him on a sheriff’s warrant. Whiteside was arrested in March in Concord for conduct after an accident and felony habitual offender.