SWAT team involved in arrest of Gilmanton man

GILMANTON — A local man was taken into custody on multiple charges after SWAT team officers surrounded his house Tuesday.

Members of the Belknap Regional Special Operations Group converged on the home of Anthony Conley at 65 Perkins Road in the pre-dawn hours after Gilmanton police asked for the team’s help to execute an arrest warrant.

“We thought it would be much safer to involve the tactical unit,” Gilmanton Police Chief Matt Currier explained, adding: “We’ve responded to that house for drug cases before.”

Conley, 43, was arrested on charges of false imprisonment, criminal mischief, criminal threatening and simple assault — all misdemeanors — Currier said.

In addition, when SWAT team members took Conley into custody they found he was carrying what appeared to be drugs, and arrested him on a possession charge, according to Chief Belknap County Sheriff’s Deputy David Perkins.

Gilmanton police had gone to Conley’s house Saturday morning after receiving a report of someone being held in the residence against their will, Currier said. However, when the officers arrived the caller was free.

Police then obtained an arrest warrant for Conley.

On Tuesday, as team members were establishing a perimeter around the house, Conley left the house. As he was walking through the woods toward his father’s home next door, he came across one of the SWAT team members who took Conley into custody without incident, Perkins said.

Conley’s wife, Christine, 39, who had an outstanding bench warrant against her, was also taken into custody, Perkins said.