A New Hampshire man was arrested after driving the wrong way on Interstate 93 during Thursday's storm, striking and damaging multiple other vehicles.
State police said they received a report of a pickup truck driving north in the southbound lanes of I-93 in Concord just north of Exit 16 around 4 p.m. Thursday. Troopers responded and worked with local agencies to slow traffic along the highway while they searched for the wrong-way driver.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
A winter storm was moving through the area at the time and I-93 was partially covered with snow.
Additional reports were received from other drivers as the pickup truck continued north in the southbound lanes.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
Within minutes, a trooper slowing traffic in an attempt to prevent a head-on crash encountered the blue pickup truck, which was still driving in the wrong direction. He activated his emergency lights, but the driver failed to stop, driving around the trooper and a line of other vehicles.
Soon after, troopers learned that the wrong-way driver had struck two southbound vehicles and continued north in the southbound lanes without stopping. Several minutes later, a trooper was able to stop traffic ahead of the wrong-way pickup and used their cruiser to block the right lane and breakdown lane and deployed a tire deflation device in the left lane. Three of the pickup truck's tires were deflated, and the pickup eventually came to a stop in the high-speed lane.
The driver of the pickup truck, identified as Matthew Burt, 33, of Concord, was taken into custody and charged with aggravated driving under the influence, two counts of felony reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, two counts of conduct after an accident, disobeying an officer, reckless operation and driving an unregistered vehicle. He was held at the Merrimack County Jail pending arraignment.
State police said Burt drove at least 12 miles in the wrong direction on I-93 before he was stopped, causing damage to three vehicles. The drivers of those vehicles were evaluated on scene by emergency medical services as a precaution but did not suffer serious injuries.
Anyone with additional information about the incident is encouraged to contact Trooper Ben Olmstead at Benjamin.M.Olmstead@dos.nh.gov.
