Concord Felon, Out On Parole After Weapon And Drug Convictions, Accused Of Possessing 25 Grams Of Drugs

CONCORD, NH — A parolee reportedly riding a bicycle on a sidewalk in Downtown Concord without wearing reflective equipment is facing drug charges after an arrest last month.

Around 10:15 p.m. on Aug. 8, an officer was driving south on North Main Street near Centre Street when he reportedly saw a man riding a bike on the west sidewalk of the street. The man had no reflective equipment on his person as required by state law, the officer wrote.

At the Loudon Road and Centre Street intersection, the officer stopped the man, Ernie Clark, 55, of Federal Street in Concord, and ran a check on him. Clark, an affidavit said, was out on parole after being convicted on charges in July 2019 and had “in-house cautions for weapons possession (firearms) and drug activity (heroin/cocaine).” The officer accused him of being “extremely nervous” and suspected he “might be armed and presently dangerous,” the report stated.

The officer Terry frisked Clark and accused him of turning away and raising his arms. He was patted down, and when doing so, the officer heard “a plastic crinkling sound” in his right pocket, but it “did not feel anything consistent with a weapon,” the report said.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and Concord District Court and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the process for requesting the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

“That’s just my keys in my right pocket,” Clark said, according to the affidavit, and began reaching into that pocket without being instructed to do so.

The officer accused him of manipulating the object in the pocket while slightly blading his body away from the officer. After removing the keys, the officer saw a baggie containing a cylindrical object of an off-white powdery substance believed to be a finger of fentanyl, the affidavit said.

After being told he could see the drugs, the officer accused Clark of reaching deeper into his pocket, attempting to conceal or destroy the suspected narcotics. The officer then began to take him into custody and accused him of pulling his arms and body away from the officer despite “multiple commands to stop resisting, which he ignored, instead yelling, ‘Stop dude.’” The struggle continued, the officer wrote, and Clark was taken down to the ground on a grassy area along the sidewalk. While trying to contain him, the officer accused Clark of shoving baggies of drugs into his mouth.

“It was clear to me that he was both attempting to destroy evidence and placing himself at risk of a potentially fatal fentanyl overdose or choking on the plastic,” the affidavit said.

Clark was ordered to spit out the drugs, but refused, so the officer used his fingers to prevent Clark from swallowing the drugs, the report said.

“He ultimately spit out three plastic baggies,” the officer wrote.

Concord fire and rescue teams were requested to evaluate Clark, but he refused to cooperate, according to the report. The officer then took him to Concord Hospital, where x-rays were taken and revealed no injuries and nothing inside him, the report stated. A nurse cleaned a small cut on his ear.

The officer also accused Clark of nodding off at the hospital.

At police headquarters, a second officer tested and weighed the drugs — a baggie of loose fentanyl, a finger, 10.43 grams of fentanyl, in another bag, a stick and a half of fentanyl, weighed at 13.75 grams, and a baggie of methamphetamine, 11.31 grams, the affidavit stated. Clark was also accused of possessing a glass pipe, $300, and half of a $100 bill.

Clark was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled drug-sale, etc., two possession of a controlled drug-subsequent, and falsifying physical arrest, all felonies, and resisting arrest or detention charges, as well as riding on bicycles and driving on the sidewalk violations. He refused bail and was taken to the county jail. After being arraigned, his case was boundover to Merrimack County Superior Court on Aug. 22 and he was held on preventive detention.

Clark is due back in superior court for a dispositional conference on Nov. 12.

According to superior court records, Clark’s criminal history dates back to the late 1990s when he was charged with being a habitual offender in Laconia. He was accused of bail jumping in June 1997. Clark pleaded guilty to both charges in October 1998.

Clark was accused of being a habitual offender again and driving under the influence in Laconia in May 2004. The habitual offender charge was nolle prossed 14 months later after Clark pleaded guilty to the DUI charge.

In July 2006, Clark was charged with acts prohibited in Laconia and receiving stolen property in October 2006, also in Laconia. In January 2007, he pleaded guilty to both charges.

Between 2010 and 2015, Clark racked up habitual offender, intoxication or under the influence, and criminal threatening charges in Belmont, burglary and conspiracy charges in Gilford, and acts prohibited charges in Laconia. In March 2011, he pleaded guilty to all three Belmont charges and received a sentence of two and a half to five years, as well as two 12-month sentences, a $1,240 fine, with $240 suspended, and 189 days of credit for time served. He also pleaded guilty to the burglary charge in March 2012 but not the conspiracy charge, and received a sentence of one and a half to four years, along with $9,689.73 in restitution required. Clark also pleaded guilty to two of the acts prohibited charges in September 2015 and received one and a half to three years and two to four years charges, as well as 190 days' time served credit.

Clark was in more trouble with the law after being released. He was accused of two counts of acts prohibited in Northfield in December 2016, two counts of felon in possession, and three counts of acts prohibited in Concord in July 2018, and habitual offender, reckless operation, and disobeying an officer in Loudon in October 2018. In July 2019, he reached a plea deal in all three cases. Clark pleaded guilty to one of the Northfield charges and received a three-and-a-half-to-seven-year sentence, suspended for 15 years. He received a two-to-five-year sentence for the Loudon habitual offender and a 12-month sentence for disobeying an officer. With the Concord charges, Clark pleaded guilty to the drug charge and two weapon charges. He received three sentences of two and a half to five years, all served consecutively, with 269 days of time served and a $620 fine suspended for 10 years. Clark was granted work release in April 2022.

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