MANCHESTER, NH – Dale Calawa, 51, of Manchester, was arrested Oct. 31 after he sped away from a police officer trying to stop him in one of the city’s “hot-spot patrol,” zones, areas identified as high crime areas.
According to a police narrative, at about 12:25 a.m. on Oct. 31 Officer Casey Finn was patrolling in the area of Beech and Manchester streets when he observed a vehicle blow through a posted stop sign at a high rate of speed. Officer Finn activated his emergency lights and attempted to stop the Dodge pick-up truck. Officer Finn was able to see a lone male operator behind the wheel. While pursuing the vehicle, Officer Finn provided a description of the operator to other officers on duty.
The brief pursuit ended at Maple Street and Londonderry Lane when the the truck’s operator, later identified as Calawa, fled on foot leaving the truck parked, running and unattended. A short time later Sgt. Brandon Murphy observed a blue Mustang in the area of Lincoln Street and Lake Avenue. He observed a female driver with a male passenger who matched the description Officer Finn provided of the pick-up truck driver.
Officer Murphy was familiar with Calawa, and stopped the vehicle. The female operator of the Mustang was released from the scene without any charges.
Enough probable cause was gathered to take Calawa into custody. Officer Finn located a small amount of crack cocaine in the pick-up truck once consent to search was granted. Calawa was charged with: possession of a narcotic drug (crack-cocaine) a felony; resisting arrest, disobeying a police officer, reckless operation, and two counts of disobeying a traffic control device.
