Pembroke Felon Accused Of Driving 80 mph In Heavy Concord Traffic

CONCORD, NH — Concord police accuse a felon from Pembroke with an extensive criminal history of driving recklessly downtown in an uninspected Jeep owned by another person in mid-September.

Around 2:15 p.m. on Sept. 14, an officer on Loudon Road spotted a Jeep Cherokee with no inspection sticker as it drove by. The driver appeared to be a white man with a trimmed beard. The driver was also wearing a hat and there was a woman in the passenger seat.

The officer immediately recognized the driver to be Christopher S. Lovell, according to an affidavit.

The officer activated the cruiser’s lights and got behind the vehicle and accused Lovell of shifting into the middle lane, turning onto North Main Street, while not using a turn signal.

“Lovell then started to speed north on North Main Street,” the officer wrote.

The officer activated the cruiser’s siren but accused Lovell of taking off. The officer estimated their max speed was around 40 mph and “visually estimated” and accused Lovell of “going 80 miles per hour,” the affidavit said, adding, “Lovell was weaving around vehicles as he drove north at a high rate of speed.”

The officer pulled over on North Main Street and called the owner of the vehicle, a woman in her mid-30s. She accused Lovell of taking the Jeep “without her permission,” the report said. She accused him of knowing the garage code and where she left her keys, the officer noted.

The officer also tried to call Lovell, but his phone went directly to voicemail.

A warrant was issued for his arrest was issued on Sept. 26.

Lovell, 39, of Savage Court in Pembroke, was arrested at 7:46 a.m. on Nov. 2 on felony reckless conduct-deadly weapon, driving after revocation or suspension, disobeying an officer, speeding, and reckless operation charges, as well as uninspected vehicle, unsafe lane change, and failure to use required traffic signal. His case was boundover to Merrimack County Superior Court on Nov. 13 after probable cause was found and waived, court documents said. He was released on $250 cash bail. Lovell is due back in superior court for a dispositional conference on Jan. 30, 2025.

Nine days later, according to court records, Lovell had a second boundover from Hooksett to superior court connected to drug possession-subsequent, deal-possess prescription drugs, and resisting arrest or detention charges, and an operating with an expired license violation after an incident in Hooksett on Nov. 2. The dispositional conference hearing for that case will also be on Jan. 30, 2025.

Lovell’s criminal history dates back to at least 2007 when he was charged with felony habitual offender in Manchester in April of that year. He was charged again in Manchester for habitual offender in January 2012 after an incident in November 2011. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

In April 2012, New Hampshire State Police charged him with habitual offender and contempt of court. The driving charge was nolle prossed in November 2012 while the contempt guilty plea led to a suspended six-month sentence.

In January 2014, Lovell was accused of robbery in Manchester and charged a few months later. He pleaded guilty in July 2014 and received a one-to-four-year sentence all suspended for three years with a probation for a year. Lovell was convicted of violating his probation in July 2015 and was sentenced to two-and-a-half to five-years in prison with 32 days time served.

Lovell was accused of habitual offender and drug possession charges and a traffic control device violation in Manchester in March 2018. The drug charge was dropped while he pleaded guilty to the other two charges. Lovell received a one-and-a-half to three-year sentence, suspended for three years.

Nearly two years later, there was another drug charge out of Manchester with a guilty plea this time and another suspended sentence.

Lovell was charged with habitual offender, driving while intoxicated, and criminal mischief in Pembroke in February 2020. Six months later, he pleaded guilty to the charges and received another one-and-a-half to three-year sentence, suspended for five years, $6,003 in fines ($5,176 paid to the Pembroke Water Works), and a 17 day sentence suspended for 12 years.

Lovell violated probation twice. On Nov. 26, he was sentenced to four months in jail with 27 days time served.

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