Tilton man's recent run-ins with law involve police in 5 local communities

CIRCUIT COURT — A man whose alleged late September-October one-man crime spree involved five separate Lakes Region communities appeared in the 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division yesterday to answer to charges stemming from his encounter with Belmont Police on September 28.

Yesterday, Belmont Police charged Corey Cromwell, 26, of 18 Pine Street in Tilton with one count of receiving stolen property and one count of misuse of license plates for actions he allegedly took just before he encountered the Laconia Police at dawn on September 28.

To date, there are active charges and/or criminal indictments for Cromwell from police in Belmont, Laconia, Sanbornton and Tilton. Gilford Police are investigating Cromwell's alleged role in a car fire.

According to police affidavits filed yesterday with the court, at 4:37 a.m. on September 28, a Belmont Police officer was sent to Union Road for a report of a man who knocked on someone's door saying he was out of gas.

The officer said he saw the car, a silver Volvo C-70 convertible, and the driver. He identified Cromwell by his drivers license which was was valid. At that moment, there were no warrants for his arrest.

While the officer was there, a person brought Cromwell some gas and he fueled the Volvo and drove away.

When the officer returned to the police station he entered the Volvo's license plate number into the general dispatch data bank and learned the plate was not the correct one for the car.

At about the same time the Belmont officer was entering the Volvo plate number into the central data bank, Laconia Police were making contact with Cromwell near St. Andre Bessette Church on the corner of Union Avenue and Gilford Avenue, where he allegedly fled from them.

Laconia Police issued a Be On the Lookout For (BOLO) alert for the Volvo and at some point in October obtained an arrest warrant for Cromwell.

The Volvo, which had been reported stolen from Bay Street in Laconia during the late part of the summer, was found about an hour later burning in Gilford.

Belmont's affidavits indicate Gilford Police interviewed Cromwell twice about the fire. During the first interview, he allegedly told the detective he was driving a green Subaru when he ran out of gas on Union Road in Belmont. During his second interview with Gilford Police, Cromwell said he lied in the first interview and admitted he was driving the silver Volvo when he ran out of gas.

The plates on the car during the Belmont incident were for a green Subaru that was registered to Cromwell's mother.

Cromwell was finally arrested on October 14 by Tilton Police after they found him in a car with a man who was charged with shoplifting at Walmart. While Cromwell had nothing to do with the shoplifting, he was arrested on the outstanding Laconia warrants for receiving stolen property, criminal trespass and disobeying an officer.

Tilton Police also charged him with one count of possession of drugs for allegedly having an Adderal pill on him.

So far Cromwell has been indicted by a Belknap County grand jury with one count of possession of drugs for the October 14 Tilton incident and one count of possession of drugs — a fentanyl patch — for a separate incident in Belmont on October 5.

He is also facing an automotive violation from the Sanbornton Police for having a false inspection sticker.

During his appearance in court yesterday, Judge Jim Carroll ordered him held on an additional $500 cash bail for the Belmont charges.

Cromwell has been incarcerated since his arrest by Tilton Police on October 14 and as the charges keep coming, his bail amounts continue to rise.

So far and according to the Belknap County Department of Corrections website, his bail totals are $500 cash for drug possession; $10,000 cash or corporate surety for drug possession; $1,000 personal recognizance for breach of bail; $1,000 personal recognizance for disobeying a police officer; $1,500 cash-only for the Laconia charge of receiving stolen property; $10,000 cash or corporate surety for drug possession; $500 cash only for the Belmont charge of receiving stolen property; $500 cash for an additional breach of bail; and $500 cash for driving after suspension.