High-speed chase through center of city ends in crash, charges

LACONIA — A Belmont man, alleged to have been driving a stolen car, is facing multiple charges after leading police on a 35-mile chase at speeds police said topped 80 mph, ending in the South End of the city Thursday evening.

State Police identified the driver as Andrew Decormier, 27, of Sunshine Drive, in Belmont.

Decormier is being held on $7,500 cash bail after having been charged with receiving stolen property, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, and driving after having been certified an habitual offender — all felonies, and aggravated DWI and breach of bail conditions, according to Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois.

Livernois and Decormier’s lawyer agreed to the bail conditions prior to a scheduled video arraignment in Belknap Superior Court Friday afternoon.

According to an affidavit, State Trooper Zachary T. Bilotta said he spotted Decormier swerving as he was driving west on Route 25 in Sandwich about 9:22 p.m. When the trooper turned on his emergency lights the vehicle slowed and pulled over briefly, but then got back on the highway. At one point it was traveling 80 mph in a 30 mph zone, the affidavit states. As the vehicle was traveling west on Route 25 near the Moultonborough Neck Road intersection, it pulled into the parking lot of the Aubuchon Hardware store and stopped. At that time a woman passenger got out of the car. The passenger was stopped by a Moultonborough police officer shortly afterward. She is not facing any charges, according to the affidavit.

Bilotta said the chase then continued through Center Harbor and Meredith, during which time Decormier was “driving extremely recklessly,” and continued driving erratically down Union Avenue in Laconia. At one point, police said, Decormier failed to make a right turn and struck a curb, which caused the car’s airbags to inflate. Despite that, Decormier continued driving and did not stop until he hit a utility pole after he failed to make a turn in front of the Napa Auto Parts store at South Main and Pine streets.

Decormier was uninjured. Shortly after being taken into custody he told State Police Sgt. Russell Holmes that he was “high,” and Holmes saw used needles inside the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Decormier initially agreed to submit to a field sobriety test, but part way through refused to complete the test.

This makes the second time Decormier has been charged with serious speeding in recent years. In December 2015 he was arrested after he failed to stop for police after failing to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic. At that time he sped away from Gilford police on Route 11 and got on the Laconia Bypass, where at times he was traveling in excess of 90 mph. When he exited the bypass at Gilford Avenue police ended the pursuit because of the danger to public safety, according to a statement released by Gilford police to the media at the time of the incident. He was located and arrested shortly afterward and charged with reckless conduct, disobeying an officer, and driving after his license had been revoked or suspended.

State Rep. Charlie St. Clair, who said he observed the vehicle speeding down Union Avenue in Lakeport with a State Police cruiser in pursuit Thursday night, said he would raise the issue of the high-speed chase through the center of the city with State Police.

“A high-speed chase down a city street for a stolen vehicle is ridiculous,” St. Clair said. “We’re lucky that there wasn’t a horrific outcome,” he said, wondering what would have happened if Decormier’s vehicle or the State Police cruiser had struck an unsuspecting pedestrian or another driver entering Union Avenue from a side street.

Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield said local officers were not involved in the incident, and would not comment on the chase. But he said that, under Laconia Police Department policy, officers are allowed to engage in a chase only if it is necessary to make an arrest or if the risk of a suspect’s escape outweighs the risk to public safety posed by the chase itself.