Teen Arrested On Another DWI Charge After Burglary, Crash: Report

CONCORD, NH — A teen from Concord, who has already racked up drunken driving, conduct after an accident, and taking without owner’s consent convictions, is facing a slew of new charges after being accused of stealing a car and a burglary on East Side Drive, and a drunken-driving accident on North Spring Street.

Police were sent to Regency Hill Estates on East Side Drive for a report of a stolen vehicle around 5:15 p.m. on Jan. 8.

The reporting officer met with four men including one of who reported his car stolen. The man said an unknown black man, with dreadlocks, walked into his apartment around 10 a.m. The apartment, he said, was not locked at the time. The complainant said he did not know the man and repeatedly told him to leave. Eventually, the man did, he said.

However, later, he realized his car keys were missing. The victim got his spare set and went out to the parking lot of the complex to look for his car, a blue Hyundai Sonata, and could not find it.

One of the other men accused a man named “Jonathan Desire” of driving the car out of the complex. Later, he called him via Instagram about the car and that he should bring it back, according to an affidavit.

“(The witness) stated Jonathan stated he had three bottles of Hennessey and marijuana and stated he was going to Lowell, Massachusetts, with the vehicle,” the affidavit said.

The reporting officer placed the vehicle into NCIC as missing.

Around 7 p.m., a hit-and-run crash was reported on North Spring Street near Cambridge Street.

A witness stated a blue sedan struck with 491, as a partial plate, hit the rear bumper of a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The witness reported damage on the front passenger side.

The victim then attempted to reach the suspect over Facebook Messenger but he refused to say where he was, the affidavit stated.

A BOLO (be-on-the-lookout) call was then issued for the car regionally.

About five minutes later, police received a tip about a car at Keach Park with front-end damage.

Officers went to the park, saw the car, and noted it matched the plate of the hit-and-run suspect car. They then spoke with both Jonathan Ruharuka, 19, of Concord Gardens in Concord, who was in the driver’s seat of the car, and a passenger, according to the affidavit.

Ruharuka, the report stated, “struggled” to retrieve his identification and during questioning, denied being involved in a crash or consuming alcohol. The officer noted the smell of marijuana and accused Ruharuka of having “red and glossy” eyes. Inside the car, the officer wrote, there was what appeared to be marijuana as well as Magic Stick rolling papers in the center console cup holder.

Ruharuka was asked to perform field sobriety tests and was arrested on a felony receiving stolen property, more than $1,500, charge as well as driving while intoxicated-second offense, driving after revocation or suspension, conduct after an accident, alcohol ignition interlock circumvention, unlawful possession-intoxication, possession of third-quarters of an ounce or less of marijuana, and possession-use of tobacco product by a minor charges.

The officer also accused Ruharuka of being in possession of two checks valued at nearly $1,780 but made out to and signed by another person from September 2021.

Back on North Spring Street, officers reported finding pieces of the vehicle including a piece of chrome and another piece with Hyundai markings, the report said.

During questioning at police headquarters, a Swahili interpreter was lined up for Ruharuka and he was questioned. He was accused of admitting to taking the car but said the victim gave him the keys. Ruharuka could not give an exact time, the report said, of when he took the car. He admitted to being in Keach Park but “would not disclose any other locations” and said, “a few friends” were with him while driving, the affidavit said. Ruharuka was also questioned about the checks and whether he forged the signatures.

“Jonathan then asked me to stop questioning him because he was tired,” the officer wrote.

Ruharuka refused the services of a bail commissioner and was taken to the Merrimack County Jail.

Later, the officer tracked down the owner of the checks who lived in another apartment at Regency Estates.

The woman confirmed the checks were hers, had been deposited electronically, and were kept in a drawer. The officer asked her to sign her name and the signatures match, the report said. However, the woman said she did not know Ruharuka and never gave anything to him.

A burglary charge was then added to Ruharuka’s docket. He was arraigned on Jan. 10 in Merrimack County Superior Court. A court-appointed interpreter was also requested for the hearing. Ruharuka is due back in court for a dispositional conference on March 11.

Ruharuka was arrested in May 2021 driving while intoxicated, conduct after; property damage, taking without owner's consent, simple assault, resisting arrest or detention, transport of alcohol by a minor, unlawful possession-intoxication, transportation of alcohol-open container, operating without a valid license, and breach of bail after a crash on Pembroke Road. Also that month, he was arrested on disorderly conduct, breach of bail, and unlawful possession-intoxication charges after a fight at Concord Gardens where he was accused to intoxicated. A few months before, he was arrested on charged with second-degree assault-strangulation and burglary, both felonies, two counts of simple assault as well as single counts of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest or detention, and unlawful possession-intoxication charges, accused of biting a person during a fight at Concord Gardens.

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

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