Belmont selectman in ‘melee’?

LACONIA — Belmont Selectman Jon Pike was one of five men police questioned about a “melee” in the Dunkin’ Donuts on South Main Street after a road rage incident, officers said.

Pike, 70, declined to comment on Thursday. Others involved did not return calls for comment or did not have a listed telephone number.

David Hodges, 52, of Salisbury, was bleeding from a head cut after the fight on April 19, police Chief Matt Canfield said, but Hodges has not pressed charges and police are trying to determine who was the aggressor.

Canfield said those involved do not want to talk to police and the store video is inconclusive as to who started the fight.

Violation-level offenses, which are the lowest category of offense in New Hampshire and typically involve fines, could be sought for disorderly conduct and simple assault where parties are fighting "by mutual consent.”

“Still, it’s just wrong,” Canfield said. “You take your family to Dunkin’ Donuts, you don’t want to see that.

“They were all involved in a melee together," he said. "We’re still trying to sort it out.”

Two female employees of Dunkin’ Donuts broke up the fight before police arrived. A worker at the store Thursday, who was there during the fight, said it involved a younger man and two older men. She said the older men blocked the younger man’s vehicle and a fight began that moved into the foyer.

The other three people involved were Alan Young, 60, of Belmont; Adam Vogler, 31, of Laconia; and Ian Burns, 33, of Gilmanton.

Police say Vogler was in a pickup truck that was involved in an incident at 3:30 p.m., before the fight on April 19, on New Hampshire Route 106 in Belmont.

An orange pickup truck pulling a trailer sped into the breakdown lane and passed several vehicles on Route 106, according to the report.

Belmont police were notified and Laconia police were alerted to be on the lookout for the vehicle. A call then came in about the fight at the Dunkin’ Donuts, which was initially portrayed as being between the driver of the pickup and someone who objected to the illegal passing maneuver.