Arrest Made In Connection To Hit-And-Run Boating Crash

GILFORD, N.H. – A Pelham man has been arrested in connection to an Aug. 2023 hit-and-run boating crash on Lake Winnipesaukee. 

This morning, with the assistance of the Pelham Police Department, Demosthenes Macheras, 69, of Pelham, was taken into custody on misdemeanor charges of Simple Assault and Hindering Apprehension.

On Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at approximately 11 p.m., the Marine Patrol unit of the New Hampshire State Police received a call for a boating crash in Wolfeboro.  Marine Patrol and members of the Wolfeboro Police Department immediately responded to the scene.  Upon arrival, officers found a 50-foot SeaRay boat that had ended up on rocks in Winter Harbor after it had crashed into a dock and the boat tied up to the dock.

The investigation to date indicates the male operator of the SeaRay left the scene before the arrival of law enforcement.  The operator and several passengers onboard the SeaRay were retrieved by and left the scene in another boat, a blue 1997 Well Craft, registered out of Pelham. Witnesses reported that the Well Craft removed the former occupants of the SeaRay from the scene and headed toward Tuftonboro, where it was later located docked at a residence.

During the course of the investigation, Macheras was identified as the operator of the 1997 Well Craft that removed the operator and passengers of the SeaRay from the scene prior to the arrival of law enforcement.

Macheras is scheduled to appear June 4 in Ossipee District Court. 

Anyone who has information that may assist the ongoing investigation is asked to contact Marine Patrol Sgt. Nicholas Haroutunian at (603) 227-2112 or via email at Nicholas.M.Haroutunian@dos.nh.gov, or call State Police dispatch at (603) 846-3333.