Belmont man tries escape from police station after arrest

BELMONT — A Laconia man remains behind bars on $10,000 cash-only bail after trying to flee from the Belmont Police Station just before midnight on Jan. 2.

Police affidavits obtained from the 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division said police first made contact with Ryan Streitenberger, 35, of 634 Benton Drive at 9:54 p.m., when an officer saw the car he was driving on Church Street swerve "far" into the oncoming lane.

The officer saw a small plastic bag in the center console and noted that Streitenberger had pinpoint pupils and asked him about any drug use. Affidavits said he replied that he had a problem with heroin abuse and consented to a search.

When the officer found a syringe in Streitenberger's front jacket pocket and several small plastic bags that contained a light-colored powder, he arrested him.

The plate on the car Streitenberger was driving was allegedly altered and didn't belong to the car, so police called for a tow truck. During the inventory search, police allegedly found a handgun on the driver's side floor under a wallet Streitenberger had left there.

Once at the police station, the officer allegedly found a double-sided dagger stuck lengthwise into Streitenberger's belt.

At one point, the officer left Streitenberger in the booking room, who then managed to get out despite the locked door and reached the garage where his car was being held. Affidavits said the officer found Streitenberger leaning into his car.

Streitenberger said he was only looking for cigarettes but the officer said a cell phone and a wallet had been moved, not the pack of cigarettes in the center console.

Once Streitenberger was taken to the Belknap County House of Corrections, a more thorough search found a small plastic bag in his rectum.

Streitenberger is charged with one felony count of escape, one felony count of possession of methamphetamine, one count of falsifying physical evidence for inserting the bag in his rectum, two counts of being a felon in possession of a weapon, and one misdemeanor count of possession of drugs. He also faces two traffic violations.