ALSTEAD, N.H. (WHDH) - New Hampshire state police arrested two Alstead residents on active warrants Friday after a traffic stop on Route 123 triggered a foot chase that turned into an interagency manhunt, officials said.
A trooper who stopped a vehicle to arrest the occupants, Jennifer Ritchie, 37, and James Crawford, 32, arrested Ritchie, the driver, on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, tampering with witnesses, hindering apprehension or prosecution, operating after a suspension, and operating with a suspended registration, according to state police.
But Crawford jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the nearby woods, prompting troopers to set up a perimeter, deploy police dogs, and enlist the support of the state police helicopter to search for him.
Several nearby schools were notified of the search.
Later in the afternoon, Crawford was caught after a brief foot chase on Old Settler’s Road in East Alstead and arrested on two counts of tampering with witnesses, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of incest, and charges of falsifying physical evidence, resisting arrest, and violating his probation.
Ritchie was ordered held without bail.
Crawford was ordered held on a detainer from the office of Probation/Parole.
Both are expected to be arraigned Monday in Cheshire County Superior Court.
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