SUV Nearly Strikes Pedestrians At Downtown Concord Event: Video

CONCORD, NH — A number of pedestrians attending Midnight Merriment in Downtown Concord were nearly struck by an SUV driving the wrong way on a side street on Friday.

Around 6:15 p.m., while people were attending the event downtown, a white Ford Taurus SUV began driving east on School Street, the wrong way on a one-way street. The vehicle struck a curb, popped a tire, and continued driving north on North Main Street. The vehicle was driving without its lights on.

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Since only part of North Main Street was closed — from School Street south to Pleasant Street, there were vehicles driving south on North Main Street and then, turning west onto School Street. As the SUV took the turn north, it nearly struck a number of parked cars and pedestrians moving from the closed part of the street onto the sidewalk.

An officer, hearing the noise from the tire popping, turned and motioned for the driver of the SUV to stop, and it refused. The SUV continued north and took a right onto Loudon Road. The officer reported the vehicle to other officers and continued to walk through Loudon Road.

A few minutes later, the vehicle was seen on Loudon Road again, turning onto North Main Street and then, into the Cumberland Farms parking lot. The officer then directed more officers to the store.

The Ford had a veteran plate and was co-owned by a couple from Boscawen.

While investigating the incident at Cumberland Farms, police spoke with a couple who claimed their vehicle was also struck by the SUV at some point earlier in the evening, according to scanner chatter. The woman reported being in pain but refused treatment.

About 10 minutes before the SUV nearly struck the pedestrians, Concord fire and rescue teams were sent to the area of Pitman and North Main streets for a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.

No other information was available at post time about this call.

NEWS 603 posted a video of the driver taking a field sobriety test.

An arrest was made in the case. Patch has requested the arrest information.

Concord NH Patch will update this post when more information becomes available.

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