Towed Car in Manchester Leads to Alleged Threats, Damaged Windows

MANCHESTER, NH - A former Salem resident was arrested this morning after reportedly threatening a tow truck company last night and then, allegedly shooting up truck and other windows this morning, according to police.

James Zsofka, 47, of Manchester, was arrested on March 11, 2016, and charged with reckless conduct and two counts of criminal threatening, one of them a felony.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Manchester 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.

According to Manchester Police, officers were sent to South Beech Street for a report of an unknown person firing a gun into windows at around 6:15 a.m.

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The damage, a tow operator estimated, was more than $900. Officers spoke to the complainant who alleged that there was a man riding a bike shortly after the windows were damaged.

The officers located a man at Wilson and Silver streets allegedly “running in the area shortly after the original call for service,” according to Lt. Brian O’Keefe of the Manchester Police Department.

The man – Zsofka – was allegedly in possession of a BB gun and was arrested.

“The victim stated an unknown male had threatened to ‘shoot up the place’ on March 10 after his car was towed on Valley West Way,” Keefe stated. “The officers determined Mr. Zsofka was the same person who had threatened the business the night before.”

Zsofka was arraigned in court this morning.

According to online reports, Zsofka lived in Salem last year and was arrested in May 2015 in Derry for possession of controlled/narcotic drugs and on a warrant the same month in Salem. He was charged with possession of a controlled drug, transporting drugs in a motor vehicle in July 2014 in Windham and disorderly conduct in Derry in August 2014.