Jury Finds Allenstown Man Guilty In Brutal September 2023 Manchester Bar Attack

MANCHESTER, NH — A jury has found a man involved in a brutal bar brawl in September 2023 guilty of first-degree assault while a second suspect awaits trial.

Payson Tracy, 30, of Allenstown, was found guilty on the single felony count this week, according to Hillsborough County Attorney John Coughlin. Tracy was involved in a dispute with the victim at McGarvey’s Saloon in Manchester when they were both asked to leave. While outside, Coughlin said, “The victim was brutally assaulted by Tracy and another man until he was rendered unconscious, had a broken jaw, broken teeth, and several other wounds.”

According to Manchester police and court documents, Damon Carter, 36, of New Boston, was the second suspect in the case. He was charged with simple assault, falsifying physical evidence, and two first-degree assault charges.

“The Manchester Police Department conducted a thorough investigation,” Coughlin said, “providing sufficient evidence for a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Tracy will be sentenced on the first-degree assault conviction on April 17.

Carter’s case is still active. He was indicted on the evidence and first-degree assault charges last year. Carter’s bail was revoked in late November 2024, and a warrant was issued for his arrest in January. After a hearing on Jan. 27, his bail was set at $10,000 cash. Carter is due for a dispositional conference hearing in Hillsborough County Superior Court North on Feb. 20.

Tracy has two other active cases in superior courts after. He was accused of robbery, theft by unauthorized taking-additional statutes, deadly weapon-firearm, simple assault, and two penalty for offense committed while on bail charges after an incident in Manchester in October 2024 in Hillsborough County Superior Court North and stalking and felony drug possession charges after an incident in Hooksett in November 2024 in Merrimack County Superior Court. He was indicted in the Manchester case in January.

Tracy is expected to be arraigned on Feb. 18 on the robbery case and to appear at a dispositional conference hearing in the Hooksett case on Feb. 20.

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