Driver who hit and killed bear in New Hampshire charged with drunk driving
HOLLIS, N.H. - A Massachusetts driver hit and killed a bear in New Hampshire Sunday evening and was then arrested on drunk driving charges, police say.
Timothy Harrigan, a 30-year-old from Leicester, hit the bear at about 6:15 p.m. on Broad Street near Pine Hill Road in Hollis, the police department said. Officers found the bear dead at the scene.
"In speaking with Harrigan, officers detected signs of impairment and investigated further," Hollis police said in a statement.
Charged with driving drunk
Police allege that Harrigan had a blood alcohol content of .17, more than double the legal limit of .08. He was charged with DUI aggravated, DUI and an open container violation, police said.
Harrigan was released on personal recognizance and will be arraigned at a later date at the 9th Circuit Court in Nashua, according to police.
Police also noted that when a Nashua woman showed up at the station to give Harrigan a ride home, she was found to be driving with a suspended license and registration. She was issued a summons to appear in court on charges of driving after revocation/suspension and suspension of vehicle registration.
Bears in New Hampshire
There are estimated to be between 4,800 to 5,000 bears in New Hampshire, the state's Fish and Game Department says. They typically head to their dens for the winter between mid-October and late November.
A black bear assessment conducted by the department in 2015 found that vehicle strikes are the second highest cause of death for bears in New Hampshire.
In 2022, a mother bear was hit and killed by a car on Route 16 in Wakefield, New Hampshire. Her cub was rescued with the hope that it could be rehabilitated and released once it was old enough to survive in the wild.