LACONIA — Laconia Police are currently investigating an incident where a group of unknown individuals pushed a porta-potty into the waters of Lake Winnisquam at the beach of Ahern State Park on Aug. 25.
Laurie DeNauw, a Laconia resident, was out on a boat on Lake Winnisquam with her family when she noticed a group of individuals hauling a large object towards the lakeshore.
“My two daughters just finished tubing,” DeNauw said. “My husband was pulling in the tube, we were in line with Ahern Beach. I noticed something, saw some movement, and people moving something large.”
After pointing out the movement to her husband, the family realized the object was a porta-potty. The family pulled closer and spotted another woman walking her dog on the shore.
“I called the police as the people were getting back in their vehicle, driving away,” DeNauw said, describing their vehicle as a “hunter green” sedan.
DeNauw added that she and the currently unnamed dog walker communicated with another by shouting across the water.
“[The dog walker] said she had seen these people and felt they were up to no good,” DeNauw said. “She had recorded their car as they were driving.”
DeNauw said she did not learn the dog walker’s name, but that both she and the walker were interviewed separately by the Laconia Police Department.
Police Chief Matt Canfield, who called the act “just people being pure vandals,” confirmed that the department did have a video of a green sedan.
Canfield described the group in the car as four teenagers, three boys and one girl.
Marine Patrol was called to remove the porta-potty from the water. Calls to Marine Patrol and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental services were not immediately returned.
As of Monday, the porta-potty appeared to be in its rightful place, and individuals were swimming in the water at the park.
(1) comment
That beach should have been shut down immediately and not opened until the water was tested fully. What a joke.
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