NEW HAMPSHIRE OFFICER INJURED IN STRUCK-BY INCIDENT

A Hampstead police officer suffered internal injuries yesterday when she was hit by a sport utility vehicle as she directed traffic around an earlier crash.

It was the second time in as many weeks that an officer in Southern New Hampshire was struck by a vehicle and injured while directing traffic.

Patrolman Kathleen Boulter, 35, of Hampstead was helping direct traffic on Route 121A at the site of a hit-and-run crash at 1:50 p.m. near Partridge Farm. The driver in that crash had to be taken to Parkland Medical Center in Derry, and his green Ford Escort was blocking the southbound lane of Route 121A.

Boulter was directing traffic along the open northbound lane of Route 121A. At 2:05 p.m., a southbound gray Ford Explorer driven by Lillian Goudreault, 65, of Sandown struck Boulter, knocking her to the ground.Another Hampstead officer, Patrolman Scott Wood, who was already on scene helping with the hit-and-run accident, radioed for help.

Boulter, a seven-year veteran of the Hampstead Police Department, was taken by ambulance to Lawrence General Hospital in Lawrence, Mass., with internal injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, Trooper 1st Class Dean Holston said. Goudreault was not injured, but was driven from the scene by Plaistow police for questioning.

There was very little damage to Goudreault's SUV, but it was taken by flatbed truck from the scene by Nick's Automotive of Hampstead as part of the investigation. State troopers didn't know yesterday what might have caused Goudreault to hit Boulter. They also didn't know if Goudreault was speeding, but said she wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Both Sandown and Danville police helped block 121A, also known as East Main Street, from Central Street to Route 111 as state police reconstructed the crash in which the officer was injured.