# Unpaid Toll Leads To N.H. Drug Bust



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=30275



Courtesy of Portsmouth Herald/Rich Beauchesne
*Portsmouth Police Detective Steve Arnold escorts Michael Hehir, 21, into Portsmouth District Court.*










Rich Beauchesne

Portsmouth Police Detective Steve Arnold of the Special Investigations Unit sorts through $2,500 in cash and 14 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $40,000 Thursday at the police station.

*ELIZABETH DINAN*
_Portsmouth Herald_

PORTSMOUTH - The failure of an alleged bank robber to pay a 50-cent highway toll led to a Wednesday police sting and the arrest of three suspects linked to three bank robberies and a marijuana operation.

Fourteen pounds of marijuana valued at $40,000 and $2,500 in cash were seized.

Michael Hehir, 21, of 69 Prospect St., was the first arrested by police Wednesday on a charge of being a fugitive from justice. Police allege he was involved in bank robberies at the Bank of America in Lewiston, Maine, on April 5, then again on April 25.

An additional robbery charge against the local man is expected to be filed alleging he was involved in the March 17 robbery of a Hooksett bank, say police.

Portsmouth Police Detective Sgt. Rodney McQuate said the investigation began May 1 with a request from Lewiston police for information about a rental car photographed at the Wells, Maine, toll booth following one of the robberies. Photos are captured only of vehicles driven by alleged toll evaders.

McQuate said his department matched the license plate to one on a car stopped in Portsmouth in March, and the driver was also a suspect in a recent Lee marijuana-growing bust. McQuate said Portsmouth police then tracked Hehir to the Hampton Inn on Route 1 in Hampton, where he was arrested on the fugitive charge.

Hehir, who goes by the nickname "Seed," was arraigned in Portsmouth District Court Thursday, where he agreed to be extradited to Maine, where he is wanted on the bank robbery charges. He is being held without bail and Maine authorities were expected to pick him up Thursday.

McQuate said Hehir confessed to the bank robberies and is also a suspect in a number of ongoing local drug investigations, some involving distribution to high school students.

Followings Hehirs arrest, he was interviewed and provided police with information about co-defendant Richard "Q" Hamilton, 33, of 67 Demerit Road, Lee, said McQuate.

An undercover marijuana buy was arranged by police at the Meadowbrook Inn, where Hamilton was arrested and, police said, 14 pounds of marijuana were found in a black duffel bag in the trunk of the Pontiac he arrived in.

During Hamiltons Thursday arraignment, prosecutor Susan Boone told the court he is wanted in Maine, Florida and Massachusetts and has a criminal history including assault with a deadly weapon and robbery with a firearm. Boone said he is alleged to have held a bank employee on the floor while showing a semi-automatic weapon during one of the Lewiston robberies.

McQuate said Hamilton was planning to flee to Canada and had already sold six pounds of marijuana. Detective Steve Arnold said Hamilton told him the shamrock tattoo he sports under his right eye is a tribute to a friend who died of a heroin overdose.

Hamilton told Judge Sawako Gardner he is a glassblower and had not been hiding from law enforcement.

Gardner set Hamiltons bail at $250,000 cash, which the suspect said he will not be able to post. He is scheduled to return to the district court on May 15 for a probable cause hearing.

Police also arrested Christian Jennings, 19, of 31 Court St., Dover, on a charge of possession of drugs in a motor vehicle. He is alleged to have driven Hamilton to the Meadowbrook Inn for the drug sale and was characterized by McQuate as having "no real knowledge of what was going on."

Jennings is also alleged to have been involved in the Lee marijuana growing operation, say police.

He was released on $10,000 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to be arraigned June 5 in Portsmouth District Court.
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## no$.10 (Oct 18, 2005)

Guess all he had was tokens.


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