Driving in the Breakdown Lane Leads to Arrest

State troopers have arrested a Manchester man after a crash near Exit 11 in Merrimack yesterday.

Victor Rodrigues Ortiz, 32, of Manchester, was arrested on April 14, and charged with driving after suspension or registrations and driving on divided ways.

According to an alert, troopers were sent to the Everett Turnpike at around 3 p.m. on April 13, 2015, for a report of a crash on the northbound side of the road just north of Exit 11 in Merrimack.

A dump truck, according to the report, had struck a median side guardrail shutting down the left lane of the highway for about 30 minutes.

“Approximately 50 feet of median guardrail was destroyed as a result of this collision,” according Trooper Sgt. K. Grealy.

The driver of the truck was cited for highway markings.

Another trooper responded to assist with the traffic that had built up along the road. This trooper, along with the NH DOT service patrol, assisted with an overheating vehicle that was sitting in traffic when he reportedly saw Ortiz “traveling up the right breakdown lane passing all of the traffic that had built up on the roadway as a result of the collision,” according to Grealy.

The trooper stopped Ortiz and after a short investigation allegedly revealing that his registration was suspended and he had “no emergency to justify his breakdown lane use,” he was arrested.

Ortiz is due in court on May 21.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire State Police. 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.