NH State Trooper’s Name Left Out of Police DUI Arrest Log

Bedford Police Chief John J. Bryfonski

BEDFORD, NH — The name of a state trooper arrested for drunk driving wasn’t included in a public arrest log compiled by police, even though 47 other people arrested for similar charges this year had their names published by police.

Bedford Police Chief John J. Bryfonski said Wednesday he was unaware the arrest of now-former state trooper David Myer, 28, of Lyndeborough, was not in the police logs or that the incident — at 2:14 a.m. on Sept. 21 on South River Road — was omitted as well.

The Bedford Police Department posts all of its incident logs on its website, which include the names of people arrested for drunk driving. According to those online logs, through Nov. 23 of this year 47 people — whose name, age or year of birth, and town or city are given — were arrested on drunk driving-related offenses. Myer isn’t among them. There also is no listing of a stop on South River Road on the date and time of the offense listed in the complaint.

Asked if it was because Myer was a state trooper, Bryfonski said, “That doesn’t make any difference to me. It should be in there. It’s a public record and needs to be a part of the public record.”

Bryfonski said he was going to find out why it wasn’t listed and make sure that the information is put into the logs.  Later Wednesday afternoon, Myer’s arrest was added to the Sept. 21 log.

It said police were called  at 2:14 a.m. about a disabled motor vehicle on South River Road. 

“Charges:  Alcoholism – protective custody, driving while intoxicated,” was recorded in the log.  Myer was given a warning. 

Myer was “separated from state police service” on Nov. 18, or about two months after he was stopped in Bedford, according to state police Executive Maj. David Parenteau.

Parenteau gave no other explanation for the trooper’s employment being terminated, saying it is a personnel matter, and referred all questions about the arrest to Bedford police.

According to court records, police didn’t immediately arrest Myer when he was pulled over. Bryfonski said Myer was taken into police custody in the early morning hours of Sept. 21 but court records show he wasn’t charged with a crime for more than a month. Bryfonski said police used the time to conduct an investigation.

The chief conceded a month-long delay for someone being stopped for suspicion of driving drunk and being charged with a crime — absent a serious injury or a fatality — is a rare event, at least in Bedford.

He explained the logs posted online are done manually, with identifying information such as an individual’s date of birth being omitted.

According to court records on file in 9th Circuit Court-Merrimack District Division, Myer did “knowingly” drive a 2009 Dodge pickup truck on South River Road while drunk.

The complaint is marked in one section as being a class B misdemeanor, although in the descriptive portion of the complaint signed by Bedford police Patrolman Ryan C. Elek on Oct. 27, it is listed as a class A misdemeanor.

Defense attorney David Horan of Manchester said that description fits the definition of a class B misdemeanor which, on conviction, carries no jail time. A class A misdemeanor conviction can mean up to a year in jail.

Horan said the 30-day delay in this arrest is not what happens “in a majority of cases, but it is not unusual.”

Myer is due to be in court for arraignment and trial on Jan. 13. District court Judges Clifford Kinghorn and Paul Moore, who preside in Merrimack, have asked that the case be transferred because of a conflict.

The judges in their transfer request said Myer was a state trooper who worked at Troop B in Bedford. They said he used to patrol the Everett Turnpike from Nashua to Hooksett and that he also worked the Hillsborough County sector, including Milford. He’s also a former Peterborough police officer.

Kinghorn spoke with Judge Edwin Kelly, who heads the circuit court division, and it was decided that a judge out of the area would be assigned to hear the Jan. 13 trial.

Myer’s attorney filed a motion requesting copies of any video of his client’s arrest.

Bryfonski said the police cruisers are not equipped with cameras. The booking process is recorded, he said, but the recording is only available for two to three days because the system records over itself. As a result, there is no recording of Myer at the police station the morning he was taken into custody.

Myer’s attorney did not return a call seeking comment.