Driver sought in hit-and-run accident

February 2, 2004

Police are looking for the driver of a car who hit and critically injured a 54-year-old man on Union Street early yesterday. The victim, William Wood of Rockland, was taken to South Shore Hospital just after midnight with serious head injuries and later flown to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition, police said. Witnesses told police the mid-size black sedan that hit Wood sped away from the scene with damage to the front end and passenger side windshield. No further description of the suspect vehicle was available, but police believe the owner of the vehicle lives in the area.

MIDDLEBOROUGH

Former officer faces sex abuse charges

A former police officer is facing child sex abuse charges, prosecutors said. E. A. Clifford Hall is facing one count of indecent assault and battery on a child over 14 and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, said Plymouth Assistant District Attorney Bridgett Norton Middleton. He is to be arraigned Feb. 12 in Wareham District Court. Hall was put on administrative leave by Police Chief Gary J. Russell on Dec. 17 when State Police began an investigation into the charges. Russell told The Enterprise of Brockton that Hall quit the next day. (AP)

KEENE, N.H.

Mass. man held in armed attack, theft

A Massachusetts man was being held after he was accused of confronting another man with a gun and taking his vehicle. Police say Christopher Wright, 22, of Springfield, is being held on charges of criminal threatening with a weapon, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and resisting arrest. Police said Leo Beatty, 45, of Leominster, Mass., said he was in his vehicle when the man confronted him about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Beatty said he fled and the man took his vehicle. (AP)

HART'S LOCATION, N.H.

Two injured in ice climbing accidents

Two men were injured in separate ice climbing accidents in Crawford Notch on Saturday. The first occurred about 10 a.m. when Mike Nadeau, 24, of Seabrook fell about 40 feet while climbing on Frankenstein Cliffs. Fish and game Sergeant Bob Bryant said Nadeau was fortunate that a group from the Mountain Rescue Service was also climbing. The group lowered Nadeau down and brought him out to the road. He suffered an ankle injury. The second fall, about 1:15 p.m., occurred on the Center Gulley of Mount Webster. Bryant said Brian Carpenter, 28, of Essex, Mass., was climbing with three friends, lost his footing, and slid at least 200 feet. He was hospitalized with multiple injuries. (AP)

BELLOWS FALLS, Vt.

Man charged with second sexual assault

Police have filed a second aggravated assault charge against Dale Aiken, 61, of Charlestown, N.H. He was being held without bail at the Springfield prison when the second charges were filed on Friday. Police said he committed two- to three-dozen sexual acts over the course of several years on a victim who was between 13 and 15 years old. Another accuser came forward, police said. (AP)

MONTPELIER

Measure would shorten fall bow season

A bill aimed at shoring up Vermont's deer herd would halt antlerless and spikehorn deer hunting and shorten the fall bow season to 16 days in Vermont. Representative Robert Helm, a Castleton Republican, is the primary sponsor of H.591, which also would lower the bag limit for deer from three to one a year. The bill also would allow a hunter applying for a moose permit to submit multiple applications if he or she has been unsuccessful in previous years. Helm said many deer hunters have complained that the herd is in poor condition. The bill would also appropriate $500,000 to reimburse landowners who grow crops for wildlife. (AP)

BROWNFIELD, MAINE

N.H. Speedway owner stable after crash

New Hampshire International Speedway owner Bob Bahre was in stable condition in a hospital yesterday after being seriously injured when his sport utility vehicle went off the road. Bahre, 76, has remained at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway since the accident Thursday. He suffered a fractured vertebrae, a broken ankle, a concussion, and rib injuries, according to track spokesman Ron Meade. (AP)