Two Arrested After DWI Stop on Pleasant Street

CONCORD, NH - Two women were arrested last month after one was stopped for reportedly failing to use a signal and drifting in the road while the other allegedly yelled at police at the traffic stop scene, according to reports.

Erika Poisson, 33, pictured right, of West Street in Concord, was arrested at 1:35 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2016, and charged with two counts of simple assault, resisting arrest or detention, and disorderly conduct. Arrested about 20 minutes later was Amy L. Lambert, 34, of West Street in Concord, who was charged with driving while intoxicated and failure to use required turn signals.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

At around 1:30 a.m., an officer was driving on South State Street when she reportedly saw a red Subaru driving slowly taking a right hand turn onto Pleasant Street.

The officer continued to follow the vehicle and reported that it was drifting slowly to the right and then stopped in a parking spot but failed to use a turn signal while drifting into the parking space, she alleged. The officer ran the plate of the vehicle and then approached the car to speak to the driver.

When the officer approached the driver’s side window and the driver rolled the window down, she allegedly “immediately smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle.”

The driver – Lambert – reportedly handed a license that said she lived in Hampton but she had difficulty accessing the vehicle’s registration papers. The officer alleged that her eyes were “red and glassy” and that she was “fumbling through” papers. When asked were she was coming from, Lambert reportedly stated a friend’s house and that she was at Penuche’s earlier in the evening.

While speaking with Lambert, another woman reportedly approached the officer “in a hostile and aggressive manner” although she was “staggering,” too.

“The female began arguing and yelling at me for talking to Lambert,” the officer alleged. “The female said that I needed to leave Lambert alone and that she didn’t get pulled over. The female continued to stumble close to me and yell in my face. I immediately smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the female’s breath. The female appeared to be intoxicated and was unsteady on her feet.”

The officer reportedly warned the woman repeatedly to move to the sidewalk and stay out of the situation while she also called for backup. A sergeant arrived and reportedly asked the woman – later identified as Poisson – to move to the sidewalk. Poisson allegedly refused.

“The female then turned around and put her hand on (the) sergeant while still yelling and arguing,” the officer alleged. “(The) sergeant advised the female she was under arrest and to put her hands behind her back. The female refused to put her hands behind her back.”

The officer and the sergeant attempted to get Poisson placed in handcuffs but she allegedly tensed up her arms and pulled away from them. She was placed up against one of the cruisers as two other officers arrived to assist.

“At that time a hostile and aggressive crowd of people started to surround us,” the officer alleged. “The crowd was yelling, swearing, and calling us names in a angry tone of voice. There were also people yelling at us from the apartments of 2 N. State St. I had to tell the crowd to step away from us several times as people starting approaching us from all around. After a brief struggle, the female was placed into handcuffs.”

During the struggle to get her cuffed, Poisson allegedly kicked one of the officers in the leg, according to a court affidavit.

The angry crowd of people was still milling around the scene “yelling and swearing loudly” at the officers while the first officer attempted to speak to Lambert about what she had to eat that night and her alleged intoxicated condition, according to a report. She was given a field sobriety test and was arrested.

The officer later learned during processing that both Poisson and Lambert knew each other and lived in the same building, according to the reports.

Poisson was held on $2,000 cash bail and arraigned on Jan. 11; Lambert was arraigned on Jan. 25.