Habitual Offender From Weare, Convicted On Drug Count In 2019, Faces 2nd DWI Charge After Concord Crash

CONCORD, NH — A felon from Weare is facing felony and intoxicated driving charges after a crash on Clinton Street last month, according to police.

Around 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, officers and fire and rescue teams were sent to the area of Clinton Street and Birchdale Road for a report of a crash. Dispatch reported a woman was crying on the phone while reporting the incident.

When the first officer arrived, they saw a Mazda crossover in the middle of the street with its back right wheel missing. A 2017 Volkswagen Jetta had “heavy front-end damage” and had driven into a utility pole on the north side of the street. The officer spoke with the driver of the Mazda and she said she was OK. The driver of the Jetta, Nicholas Wayne Meattey, 26, of North Stark Road in Weare, had a jammed ring on the finger of his right hand and several cuts to his left arm, an officer wrote, but otherwise, he was OK. EMTs evaluated Meattey and he was cleared later.

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

News 603 posted a video from the crash scene last month.

The reporting officer questioned the driver about the crash. She said she was stopped, facing west, waiting for two other cars to turn onto Birchdale, when her crossover was rear-ended by the driver of the Jetta. The driver was wearing a seatbelt and said she was OK, the officer wrote.

Meattey was asked for his license, questioned, and accused of admitting he had a suspended license. He then said, “You will be taking me,” the affidavit said. The officer asked him what happened, and Meattey said he “spaced out” and struck the Mazda, which was stopped, waiting to turn, the report said. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the officer noted.

Dispatch confirmed Meattey was a habitual offender and should not be driving, the report stated.

After being cleared by EMS, Meattey told the officer he wanted to get a cigarette from his car, the officer wrote. They walked over to the car, and the officer saw a Suncruiser beverage container up against the windshield, the report stated. When asked if it was his, Meattey was accused of admitting it was, that the container was empty, and he had finished it earlier.

Meattey was asked to perform a field sobriety test, but he refused and was handcuffed, the report said.

During a pat down, the officer wrote, a sandwich bag was found in one of Meattey’s pockets, used to hold cocaine, he reportedly stated. The officer then read him his Miranda rights, and Meattey agreed to speak about the bag, and said it previously had cocaine in it, but he “had used it all” just before “he started driving,” the affidavit stated.

The officer noted Meattey’s eyes “appeared to be very dilated” and he was “sweating profusely and his hands were shaking,” the report stated, all “signs of cocaine use.”

Meattey, at police headquarters, agreed to a blood test and DRE physical test, the report stated. He was certified as a habitual offender after a DUI conviction in Goffstown District Court in October 2023 and was also convicted of DUI in July 2023 in Concord District Court, the report stated. In August 2019, according to superior court records, he pleaded guilty to a cocaine possession charge out of Henniker and received a 12-month sentence and $434 fine, both suspended for two years.

Meattey was charged with felony operating after being certified as a habitual offender, driving while intoxicated-second offense, driving after revocation or suspension, and driving after revocation or suspension-subsequent charges, as well as open container-alcohol or marijuana and following too closely violations. He was held on preventative detention. According to court documents on Sept. 12, a judge stated releasing Meattey “will endanger the defendant and the community” due to his failure to follow “multiple orders” not to drive, and he was accused of driving after drinking and consuming drugs.

Meattey’s case was boundover to Merrimack County Superior Court on Sept. 25 and he was held without bail. On Monday, his defense team requested a motion to continue, which was granted. A status conference, scheduled for Tuesday, was canceled.

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