A Sharon man faces multiple felony charges following a high-speed police pursuit that ended in a rollover crash early Oct. 9 on Thompson’s Crossing Road in Antrim. The incident marked the third high-speed police pursuit in the region since Oct. 3.
Hillsborough police officers initially responded around 3:10 a.m. to a report of a suspicious vehicle at the Cumberland Farms store on Henniker Street in Hillsborough. When officers arrived, a vehicle driven by Christopher Johnson, 32, of Sharon, fled the parking lot at high speed without its headlights on. Officers pursued the car into Antrim, where Johnson turned off his lights to temporarily evade police before turning onto Thompson’s Crossing Road – a dead end leading to a closed bridge over the Contoocook River.
As officers exited their cruiser, Johnson accelerated toward them, forcing both officers to run for safety. He then attempted a high-speed turnaround, landed in a ditch, and rolled the vehicle. Johnson and a passenger were taken to Monadnock Community Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police noted Johnson was out on bail from an Oct. 1 arrest in Rhode Island under similar circumstances.
Both the Hillsborough and Antrim police departments charged Johnson with felony counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, domestic violence kidnapping, aggravated driving while intoxicated, and disobeying an officer, alongside criminal restraint, reckless operation, speeding, and other traffic violations. Antrim police additionally charged him with two felony counts of second-degree assault. Johnson was scheduled for arraignment at 2 p.m. on Oct. 9 in 6th Circuit Court, District Division, Hillsborough.
The Hillsborough Police Department was assisted by the Antrim, Henniker, and Peterborough police departments, as well as Antrim Fire and Ambulance.
