NEW HAMPSHIRE OFFICER INJURED WHEN STRUCK BY FLEEING MOTORIST

A Manchester police officer was hurt when struck by a car driven by a man he tried to talk to concerning a report two men were trying to break into cars at an apartment complex. Officer Todd Biery did not require medical treatment for the injuries to his elbow and knee, according to Lt. Richard Charbonneau.

Police found the tan sedan the man was driving later in the morning abandoned -- but still running -- outside 44 West Webster St.

Biery and Officer Jonathan Duchesne were investigating a 4:50 a.m. report this morning about two people trying to break into cars parked at Colonial Village on West Clarke Street. When they arrived, they saw two Hispanic men trying to get into a Mitsubishi Eclipse. As the officers approached them, one man ran into the woods, west of the apartment complex. The second man ran to a tan sedan, got inside and closed the door.

The man fumbled his keys in trying to start it and the officers ordered him to get out of the car. Police said he refused and Biery opened the passenger door to try to stop him from starting the car. The man, however, started the ignition, stepped on the accelerator and sped away. The car’s door jamb struck Biery’s elbow and knee, police said.

Duchesne avoided being struck and managed to strike the car’s windshield with his expandable baton, shattering the glass. Police brought in a K-9 to track the man who fled into the woods. As of noon, both men were still at large.

The driver is described as a Hispanic man with a pencil thin moustache and short, dark hair. He was wearing a black shirt with a gray collar. No description was available for the second man.

It was Duchesne’s first night out on the city’s streets since he was hired on July 16, Charbonneau said. Biery is his field training officer, he explained.

Duchesne was a certified police officer in Allenstown when Manchester hired him but was required by the city to undergo in-house training before working the streets.