Woman drives into pond wearing wedding dress

A woman, wearing a wedding gown over her clothes and expressing disregard for her own life, was rescued by Conservation Officers of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and two bystanders, after she drove her GMC Yukon into Saltmarsh Pond around noon yesterday.

Toni Neville, 42, of no known address, who turned belligerent and aggressive when the officers approached her, will be charged by Gilford Police with felony reckless conduct, two counts of simple assault, driving after suspension and transporting a controlled drug.

Conservation Officer Michael Eastman said he and Officer Glenn Lucas were patrolling at the pond when he noticed the woman sitting alone in the parked Yukon. "I could tell that she was upset," he said, "and suspected that she might be under the influence of alcohol or drugs."

When Eastman saw she was draped in a wedding gown, he grew more concerned. "I asked her what was going on," he said, "and if she was going to hurt herself." At that point, he said the woman became openly upset and reached behind the seat. "I thought she might have a gun, so I opened the door. I saw that she had pills and marijuana" he continued, "and when I tried to get them she yelled that she wanted to die and punched the gas."

Eastman said that as Neville drove off the door closed on his arm, leaving a bruise. Thinking the woman intended to flee, Eastman and Lucas got into their truck ready to pursue her only to find that Neville turned the Yukon around and steered toward them. "We thought she was trying to ram us," Eastman said. To evade her, they drove behind a stand of pine trees near the outbuildings. "She turned to take another pass at us and got hung up on a sign post," Eastman said, "and when she stepped on the gas, she went straight into the pond."

"She floated out a ways," Eastman said, "and pretty soon the engine compartment was underwater." When water began to fill the front seat, Neville climbed out of the driver's seat and on to the roof. "She was clinging to the roof rack and yelling at us to shoot her," he said. "Then as the truck submerged she slid off the roof."

By this time Harry Bean, Sr. and two of his employees, who had witnessed the scene from above the pond had joined Eastman and Lucas. Eastman said that he three a rope, but Neville refused to swim to it. The two officers, accompanied by Bean's employees, grabbed a length of two-by-four, clambered into an aluminum rowboat and paddled toward the woman. "She wouldn't grab the two-by-four," Eastman said, "and when one of the employees tried to pull her in, she bit his arm. We finally got her by the hair and the arm and pulled her half into the boat."

Neville was taken to Lakes Region General Hospital by a Laconia ambulance. Meanwhile, Gilford Fire-Rescue summoned the Laconia Dive Team to determine if anyone remained in the vehicle. Lieutenant Kirk Beattie of the Laconia Fire Department said that divers were deployed to check the vehicle, which sank about 50 feet from shore, and finding nothing assisted the towing firm with recovering the vehicle.