Traffic Stop Leads to Drug, Driving Charges

BOW, NH - Three people were arrested last month on various charges after a traffic stop on Garvins Falls Road in Bow for a suspended operation check that allegedly led to drug possession charges.

Robert Chestnut, 18, pictured left, of Fourth Range Road in Pembroke, was arrested on April 23, 2016, on two counts of possession of controlled/narcotic drugs. Also arrested was Thomas Pillsbury, 26, of Mount Delight Road in Epsom, on warrants as well as a possession count, and Cre Clay, 20, of Spaulding Street in Nashua, not pictured, for possession of controlled/narcotic drugs, driving after suspension, and suspended registrations.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Bow Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link, which explains New Hampshire Patch's police log name removal policy.

An officer at the Bow park-and-ride ran a check on a Pontiac Grand Am driving on Route 3A and a check came back that the registration was suspended, according to a court affidavit.

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The officer caught up with the vehicle on Garvins Falls Road and spoke to the driver, Clay, who was reportedly unable to produce a driver’s license but did have her military ID, according to the report. Two male passengers allegedly refused to identify themselves, with one wearing a hoodie, covering most of his head and avoiding eye contact, the officer alleged.

The officer confirmed that Clay’s license and registrations were suspended and while doing so, alleged that the front passenger “was looking backwards” while Clay was “making furtive movement which included leaning forward and moving items within the vehicle,” according to the affidavit. Another officer arrived and Clay was asked to step out of the car.

“She was initially uncooperative but complied,” the officer alleged. “She was advised she was being placed under arrest (and) began yelling and screaming.”

The reporting officer returned to the vehicle and asked the passengers for their names again. One identified himself as “Aaron Butler”; the other, “James Chestnut,” according to the report, but dispatch was unable to find either name. “Butler” reportedly offered a different birth date and acknowledged that he just got out of prison, but the information wasn’t found by dispatch.

New Hampshire State Police were requested to assist and one of the troopers recognized “Butler” to be Pillsbury and he was arrested. During the process of being arrested, one of the officers allegedly found a white powdery substance on the floor of the vehicle near Pillsbury’s feet, according to the affidavit.

“Even after being identified by (the trooper), he still continued to identify himself by the false name of Aaron Butler,” the officer said of Pillsbury. “And continued to state his name was Aaron Butler even after being transferred to the Merrimack County Jail for processing.”

The rear passenger – later identified as Chestnut, who was wanted on multiple bench warrants – reportedly had a knife in his pocket and was also arrested. Police also allegedly found a marijuana pipe under the driver’s seat and later, applied for a search warrant. After receiving it and checking the vehicle, a bag of marijuana was allegedly found stuffed into the seat near where Chestnut was sitting. A locked safe with a glass vile of cocaine was found in the truck along with multiple court documents with Chestnut’s name on them, according to the affidavit.

According to reports online, Pillsbury was arrested in 2009 for robbing a pharmacy in Concord. Clay was previously arrested for theft and possession and use of tobacco products by minors in 2013.