Merrimack Man Suffers Serious Injuries in Route 202 Crash

MERRIMACK, NH - A local man was injured after an alleged drunk driver swerved into the opposite lane of Route 202 at the Peterborough-Jaffrey town line last night and crashed into two other vehicles.

Leonard Gonthier, 54, of Jaffrey, was arrested on Jan. 30, 2016, for aggravated DWI.

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.

According to New Hampshire State Police and alerts online, police and fire and rescue teams were sent to the highway for a multi-vehicle accident at just after 7:15 p.m.

The crash investigation revealed that Gonthier, who was driving a 2001 GMC Jimmy eastbound, allegedly “swerved into the westbound lane, side-swiped a second vehicle (a 2003 Ford Explorer) causing the Explorer to rollover and come to a rest in the middle of the roadway,” according to a Sgt. Kathleen Grealy/Sgt. William T. DiLegge of Troop C.

“The GMC Jimmy continued eastbound in the westbound lane and then collided head-on with another vehicle (a 2012 Subaru Impreza) which resulted in the GMC Jimmy coming to final rest off the westbound shoulder up against a guardrail and the Subaru Impreza in the westbound breakdown lane,” they alleged.

Route 202 was closed for more than four hours, according to the NH DOT. Peterborough and Jaffrey firefighters as well as others who came upon the scene assisted the crash victims.

Two teenagers from Rindge who were in the Explorer and a Merrimack man in his 30s who was driving the Impreza, and “suffered more serious injuries,” were all treated and released from Monadnock Community Hospital.

Gonthier was transported to MCH and then, airlifted to UMass. Medical Center in Worcester, with possible life-threatening injuries. State police charged him with aggravated DWI but were unable to fully process him due to his injuries.

The case, the troopers noted, is still under investigation.

Caption: A picture from the crash scene by @carlaRousseau2 posted on Twitter this morning. Credit: Carla Rousseau