Hay resigns as selectman after DWI arrest

Nicholas Hay Westminster Selectman Nicholas Hay resigned from the select board Monday 72 hours after he was arrested for drunk driving in New Hampshire.

Hay was arrested by the Jaffrey Police Department at the scene of a single-vehicle accident at 6:40 p.m. on Friday, March 5. Hay did not brief statement he made at Monday’s selectmen’s meeting.

“Due to personal conflicts and troubles that I have, I’m resigning from the Board of Selectmen effectively immediately,” Hay said. After concluding his statement he walked out of the meeting.

Hay was driving his 2003 Chevy pick-up truck on Sandy Lane when he allegedly crashed the vehicle while taking a turn on Friday evening.

“We received a report of a single car accident on Gilmore Pond Road,” said Denise Chatel, the Jaffrey Police Department’s administrative assistant. “It appears that he struck a tree at that intersection while he was trying to take the corner.”

The vehicle appeared to have continued to travel a quarter-mile down Gilmore Pond Road before the driver lost control and came to rest on the opposite side of the road after hitting a snow bank, Chatel said.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

When police arrived on the scene, they conducted field sobriety tests on Hay and determined he was unfit to drive. A breathalyzer test indicated Hay had a blood alcohol level of .12, police said. The legal limit is .08.

Hay was subsequently arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Hay wasn’t injured, but the vehicle sustained heavy front-end damage and the loss of steering control, according to Chatel.

He was released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail, and will be arraigned in the Jaffrey-Peterborough District Court in the next few weeks, she said.

At the end of his public statement Monday night, Hay said he would refuse to make any further comments on the matter. He thanked the town residents and his fellow board members.

“I want to thank the townspeople and administrators for allowing me to serve them,” Hay said.

Hay, who was nearing the end of his first three-year term on the board, had been planning on seeking re-election. He was not going to pursue another term and did not turn in the nomination papers, which were due to the Town Clerk’s Office by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Selectman John Fairbanks thanked Hay for his service to the town over the last three years.

Hay was charged in November 2009 with driving without an inspection sticker and forgery/misuse of an RMV document after a traffic stop in Westminster. He was found responsible of the former charge, while the latter was dropped before arraignment.