Police seek public’s help in finding driver who knocked down park fence

LACONIA — Police are asking the public for information they may have about a hit-and-run accident which did about $1,500 in damage to fencing at Opechee Park.

The incident occurred between 2:30 and 3 p.m. last Friday, according to Laconia police Sgt. Bob Cameron, who said it might have been an accident.

“It could have been a case of (the driver) stepping on the gas instead of the brake,” he said. However, the driver failed to report the event to police which makes it a hit-and-run accident.

State law requires a driver to report any accident which causes more than $1,000 in damage.

Laconia police on Tuesday released an image captured from a surveillance camera at Laconia Middle School which shows what police say appears to be a gray/silver sport utility vehicle or pickup truck with a cap as it drove through the fence which separates the south side of the running track and a parking lot off North Main Street, opposite the Boys and Girls Club.

About 100 feet of the chain-link fence was knocked down, and a metal bench embedded in a concrete was overturned, according to Amy Lovisek, the city’s director of recreation and facilities. Repairs to the fence are already complete, Lovisek said Wednesday. The total cost of repairs will run about $ 1,500, she said.

The police are hoping that one or more members of the public will come forward with information, considering that the accident occurred while many parents were in the middle school parking lot to pick up their children as school let out for the day, and so may have seen what happened.

Police say anyone who believes they may have witnessed this incident or have information regarding the vehicle or the driver should Officer Ross Hogan at the Laconia Police Department at 603-524-5252.