YouTuber accused of hitting officer to raise insanity defense

OSSIPEE — The lawyer representing a YouTuber accused of hitting a Bartlett police officer with his Jeep, then leading officers on a chase last March, may go to trial in January. He recently filed notice to the court that his client intends to raise an insanity defense. 

The indictments against Erik Conover, 35, of New York City stem from a series of incidents on March 15 after Bartlett Patrol Officer Cameron Emmett attempted to pull Conover over for speeding.

Conover was in Carroll County Superior Court on Thursday morning with his attorney, Nicholas Howie of Salem. They were there for a dispositional conference before Judge Mark Attorri. County Attorney Keith Blair represented the state. 

Conover’s case is now scheduled for jury selection Jan. 5, 2026. Though Howie said plea deal negotiations are still ongoing, he added that the prosecution and Conover “are a little far apart right now.”

“Attorney Blair had consulted on this, and I think we’re on the same page — at least for now, we want to schedule trial dates,” said Howie at the outset of the hearing.

“In the meantime, we also like to schedule a settlement conference to have have some options there prior to.”

A settlement conference is scheduled for Sep. 30 at 1 p.m. A status conference will be held Nov. 6. His final pre-trial conference is Dec. 18.

According to the county attorney, on March 15, after Emmett pulled his cruiser directly in front of Conover’s Jeep, Conover backed up, then accelerated, shoving the officer’s vehicle at least 30 feet. Emmett suffered a separated lateral collateral ligament but has since recovered.

On July 18, a Carroll County Superior Court grand jury indicted Conover on a series of felonies. 

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Last Tuesday, Howie filed a “notice of defense: insanity,” based on the report of a Dr. Shannon Bader. 

Bader, of Silver Lake Psychological Associates in Concord, is “a clinical and forensic psychologist licensed in New Hampshire and Vermont,” according to slforensic.com. The website says Bader has expertise in issues regarding competency to stand trial, among other topics. 

“Dr. Bader would state that the events set forth in the above-captioned matter were the result of Erik Conover suffering from a major mental illness at the time,”said Howie in his notice.

The notice goes on to say that Conover intends to pursue a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and “maintains that criminal intent is negated by his condition at the time of the charged events.”

During his court appearance in March, Conover stated, “If anyone dares try to test my mental competence, I will eviscerate every single person with my intelligence right now.” 

Conover was indicted by the grand jury on a Class B felony count of disobeying an officer; a Class B felony second-degree assault charge with an extended term of imprisonment; a Class A felony first-degree assault charge with an extended term of imprisonment; two counts of Class B felony reckless conduct with extended terms of imprisonment; and a Class B felony conduct after an accident charge.

Blair signed the first-degree assault indictment, which read that Conover “knowingly caused bodily injury to another by means of a deadly weapon; and where he or she knows the victim was, at the time of the commission of the crime, a law enforcement officer, a paid firefighter, volunteer firefighter, on-call firefighter, or licensed emergency medical care provider as defined in RSA 153-A:2, V acting in the line of duty; To wit, Erik Conover struck Officer Cameron Emmett with a motor vehicle, which resulted in bodily injury to the leg of Officer Emmett and the motor vehicle in the manner it was used is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.”

The indictments carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison. The other Class B felonies carry sentences of up to seven years.

Conover’s YouTube channel, Erik Van Conover, has 2.78 million subscribers. Its description states: “Merging architecture, sacred geometry, and AI-consciousness evolution — this channel explores homes built for energetic resonance and human expansion.”