Driver charged with DWI, family member sought after Belmont motorcycle crash

BELMONT — A local man who survived a crash on Saturday that led to police arresting a Laconia woman on a drunken driving charge said he was most upset that she didn't look back or try to find out if he was all right.

Police charged Stacey L. Converse, 47, of Laconia, with driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest in connection with the accident that took place in front of the Penguin Mart on Route 106. Police also charged a family member with interfering with police after an automobile-motorcycle crash on Route 106.

The victim, Robert Blais of Belmont, said he was coming home after a day of riding his motorcycle with a couple of friends, heading south on Route 106, when Converse, driving north in a 2013 Hyundai sedan, made a left turn, crossing the road about 10 feet in front of Blais. His 2010 Harley-Davidson motorcycle struck the passenger side of her car, just behind the front tire, and he went over his handlebars and over her car, down the side, and landed on the street.

"She then drove into the parking lot while I was in the road, watching, and she proceeded to move into the store pretty quick. She didn't look back or come to come to see if I was OK, and she locked herself in the bathroom."

When police arrived, they found Converse inside the store. A clerk told police she believed Converse might be impaired.

As one officer spoke to Converse, another officer spoke to Blais, who had been placed inside an ambulance, while a police supervisor was inside the store taking statements from witnesses and reviewing the store’s surveillance video, which had captured the crash.

While undergoing a series of field sobriety tests in the store parking lot, Converse suddenly walked away from police and headed into Route 106. After ignoring police, a brief struggle ensued in the highway. A family member of Converse who had arrived at the convenience store attempted to pull Converse away from police and a Belmont officer sustained a road rash on his leg(s) from the tussle with the two women, according to police. 

The female family member, whose name was not immediately released, left, but police said they are planning to arrest her.

Converse is scheduled to appear in Fourth Circuit Court-District Division-Laconia on May 10.

Blais, who was taken by Belmont Fire Department ambulance to Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia for treatment of possible head and neck injuries and minor wounds, said the tests found no broken bones, but he had multiple cuts, abrasions, and bruises.

"Somebody was watching over me," Blais said. "It's not something you expect to walk away from."

He said he was not wearing a helmet and, although he was only traveling about 45 mph, "It's a miracle that that kind of speed can be a factor."

Saying he knew both Converse and the other family member and went to school with the other woman's daughter — "I kind of grew up with them" — neither one asked if he was OK.

"They were only worried about her getting out of there."

His motorcycle, a Dyna Wide Glide, was a total loss.

"I bought it almost exactly a year ago, and it was my first bike," he said, saying it was "pretty much my everything."

He said, "Watch out for bikers. Accidents happen, but she was asking for this."

Thomas P. Caldwell contributed to this article.