WMWV – 93.5

Waterville Valley:  On Sunday, May 9^th shortly before 4:30 PM New Hampshire Fish and Game was notified that a hiker was injured on the Mt. Potash Trail. The hiker was Kenneth Winitzer, 65 of Conway, NH. Kenneth was hiking with his wife Jill when he fell and injured his hip while descending the trail.  A passing hiker was able to hike back up the trail in order to gain cell service and placed a call for help.  Kenneth and Jill were also equipped with an Emergency Personal Locator Beacon and were able to activate it.

Along with Conservation Officers members of Lakes Region Search and Rescue responded.  Rescuers located Kenneth a little over a mile from the trailhead.  He was placed in a litter and carried out to a Forest Service Road adjacent to the trail and driven the remaining distance to the trailhead.  He arrived back at the trailhead shortly before 7:00 PM and was taken by ambulance to the Memorial Hospital in North Conway for treatment.

Lakes Region Search and Rescue is a highly skilled volunteer search and rescue organization whose members work hard to maintain the skills and equipment necessary to carry out mountain rescues. Anyone can donate to Lakes Region Search and through the New Hampshire Outdoor Council at www.nhoutdoorcouncil.org.  Donations are fully tax deductible. Outdoor enthusiasts are also encouraged to purchase a Hike Safe card at www.wildnh.com/safe. The card helps support Fish and Game search and rescue activities.  For safe hiking tips and a list of essential gear, visit hikesafe.com.

On May 5, 2021 at approximately 9:55 pm, Conway Police Officers were made aware of a subject, wanted out of the State of Vermont who was believed to be armed and staying in a local hotel. The wanted subject was identified as Arthur Butler, 19 years of age, Topsham, Vermont.

Conway Dispatchers confirmed the open warrant for Butler and advised he was wanted on the charge of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon out of Vermont with extradition authorized for all New England states.

Conway Police Officers gathered information from officials in Vermont which included intelligence that Butler may be traveling in a Toyota Rav4, being operated by a female coming from the Berlin, NH area.  Shortly after receiving this information, Sergeant Michael Boucher observed a Toyota Rav4 leaving the parking lot of the hotel Butler was believed to be staying at. Sergeant Boucher observed the vehicle was being operated by a female and that there was a subject seated in the front passenger’s seat as well.  Sergeant Boucher followed the vehicle and observed as it pulled into the Shell gas station located at the corner of River Road in North Conway, NH.

At this time, a rear door of the vehicle opened and a male subject, believed to be Butler, ran on foot from the vehicle down River Road.  Officers set up a perimeter in the area in order to await the arrival of Conway Police Department’s K-9 Summit and K-9 Officer Morganne Sterl.  Shortly thereafter Master Patrol Officer Shawn Baldwin observed the suspect come out of the tree line in the area behind Eastern Slope Inn’s Whitaker Suites.  Sergeant Boucher recognized the suspect as the male who fled from the rear seat of the Toyota Rav4.  After a brief struggle with Sergeant Boucher and Master Patrol Officer Baldwin the male, confirmed to be Arthur Butler, was taken into custody without further incident.

Butler’s arrest warrant out of the Vermont Superior Court shows Butler is charged with Aggravated Assault and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.  Butler was transported to the Carroll County House of Corrections.  An extradition hearing is scheduled for today, May 6, 2021 at 1330 hours.

~ Suzanne Kelley-Scott, Lieutenant

Shelburne – Fish & Game Conservation Officers and volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search & Rescue (AVSAR), and Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO) responded to a report of an injured hiker approximately 3 miles up the Carter-Moriah Trail in Shelburne Saturday afternoon around 2:00 p.m.

The hiker, identified as Donald Devost, 48, of Berwick, ME, was descending after summiting Mt. Moriah when he slipped a steep, granite slab on the trail and suffered an injury to his lower leg.  In pain and unable to bear any weight on that leg, Devost made a call to 911 requesting help.

Responding rescue personnel, including a class of Wilderness First Responder students from SOLO out of the Conway area, hiked in from the trailhead off Bangor Street in Gorham.  Initial first responders on scene treated the injured leg and placed Devost into a litter and started carrying him down a mile of trail to an awaiting ATV.  Devost was then taken from the litter and placed on the ATV and driven down nearly 2 miles to the trailhead.  The rescue crew arrived at the trailhead at 6:45 p.m.  From there Devost was transported to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin for further treatment of his injury.