Salem Officer Injured by Woman with Screwdriver: Cops

SALEM, NH - The quick action of a local police officer may have prevented a local woman from injuring herself with a screwdriver during a warrant arrest last night, according to Salem Police.

Stephanie Lowden, 43, of Salem, was arrested on May 4, 2016, and charged with simple assault, resisting arrest, and education neglect of a minor.

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

At just after 11 p.m., officers went to Lowden’s home to arrest her on an active warrant. After arriving, “other family members began to dispute the warrant” and Lowden “walked to another area of the residence with her daughter,” according to Lt. Thomas Kench of the Salem Police Department.

• Sign up for news alerts from local New Hampshire Patch sites.

“Officers followed Lowden and saw her daughter struggling to remove something that Lowden had in her possession,” Kench alleged in a report. “Officers then observed Lowden break free from her daughter’s grip as she attempted to jab at her own neck with a screwdriver. A Salem Police officer then blocked the screwdriver with his hand which prevented it from lodging into Lowden’s own neck.”

Lowden was reportedly separated from the screwdriver, arrested, and held on $5,000 cash bail. The officer was treated for the injuries sustained to his hand, according to Kench.

A free, 24/7 confidential service is available that can provide people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, or those around them, with support, information, and local resources. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).