No injuries after parked police cruiser hit by pickup truck Saturday at scene of separate accident

There were no injuries after an empty Laconia police cruiser was hit by a pickup truck on Saturday evening on Belmont Road in Laconia, when an officer was detouring traffic at the scene of another accident involving a motorcycle and a vehicle just across the town line in Belmont.

According to Laconia Capt. Allan Graton, at 7:39 p.m. on Oct. 18, Laconia Police and Fire departments responded to Belmont Road in Belmont, also known as Route 106, for an accident involving a motor vehicle and a motorcycle. Graton said there was no report of any injuries or transport from the accident.

A Laconia Police officer was out of his cruiser directing traffic up Old Prescott Hill Road in Laconia away from the accident, when a pickup truck crashed into the back of his cruiser. Graton said nobody was in the parked police SUV, and the operator of the pickup truck was not injured. There was heavy damage to both vehicles, however.

Photographs provided by Laconia police show the side of the police SUV crushed, with rear driver’s side airbags deployed, and a window smashed. The pickup truck’s front bumper was crushed, the passenger side headlight and turn signal smashed, and the driver’s side light was also damaged. The hood of the pickup truck was also damaged, revealing the engine.

“It was a pretty bad accident,” Graton said, adding it did not appear the driver slowed down before hitting the SUV.

Graton said since the accident occurred on Route 106, he estimated the driver of the pickup truck was traveling at least the posted speed limit of 40 mph when it struck the SUV.

Graton did not have information about whether any arrest or charges were filed and deferred comments to State Police, whose troopers responded to the second accident.

Just before these accidents, at 7:02 p.m. on Oct. 18, the Laconia Police Department received a walk-in report of a hit-and-run accident on White Oaks Road at the Weirs. The owner of the vehicle drove the 2013 Silver Honda Accord to the station where police checked the vehicle and made a report.

The vehicle was parked in a driveway of a new development, and the owner found damage to the passenger mirror and door, which Graton said appeared to be from a “sideswipe.”

No charges were filed related to the White Oaks incident.

Earlier in the day, at 10:58 a.m. on Oct. 18, Laconia Fire Chief Tim Joubert reported a truck collided with a forklift across from 690 Weirs Blvd. One person was evaluated for minor injuries and transported to Concord Hospital-Laconia.