State Trooper involved in Meredith chase in September

Court documents in the case of a New Hampshire state trooper arrested at headquarters on Wednesday afternoon show he had been under investigation by the State Police for two months because of an off-duty incident involving Meredith police.

Trooper James Conrad, 49, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at headquarters by Concord Police. Police say Conrad threatened to take a Concord officer's weapon and shoot everyone in the room. He has been charged with criminal threatening, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and violation of a protective order. The later-charge relates to the alleged violation of a terms of a pending divorce agreement, and that domestic dispute appears to be at the heart of Conrad's problems.

Conrad — now being held on $60,000 cash-only bail while waiting to be admitted to the NH State Hospital for psychological evaluation — is currently a Concord resident, but the Concord Monitor reported on Friday that he was living in Laconia with his now estranged wife at the time of a September incident that was referred to the state police for investigation.

According to a Monitor story by reporter Annmarie Timmins, court records indicate Conrad's wife left the couple's home one late-September night "to clear her head" and when she did not return Conrad went looking for her himself. Conrad was later said to have been speeding through Meredith at 1 a.m. — apparently searching for his wife's car — with his lights flashing when he caught the attention of Meredith police.

A chase ensued that ended in a school parking lot, where Conrad is said to have discovered his wife's empty car, and where the trooper is alleged to have yelled and swore at the officer pursuing him.

Conrad also got State Police to send a K-9 team to the scene to try to find his wife, but they determined she had probably left in another vehicle.

Meredith police say Conrad apologized to the officer who chased him and told them his head was "not in the right place."

The Monitor reported that Conrad's wife filed for divorce several days later. A few days after that, Conrad accused her of domestic violence and asked for domestic violence petition against her. His petition was denied.

Conrad has been a state trooper since 1993 and had most recently been assigned to the major crime unit.

(Associated Press contributed to this story.)