Wrong-Way Driver Stopped in NH State Police Saturation Patrol

A Seacoast saturation patrol by New Hampshire State Police Thursday night led to 140 stops and 10 arrests, including a wrong-way driver charged with DUI.

State Police focused their efforts on Interstate 95 and the Spaulding Turnpike on the effort led by the New Hampshire State Police Special Enforcement Unit and the New Hampshire State Police Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Unit in what they called a high-visibility DUI saturation patrol that continued into the early hours of Friday morning.

Two of the 10 arrests were made on McKinley Road and Lafayette Road in Portsmouth. 15 citations and 127 warnings were issued for various motor vehicle infractions.

Troopers responded to a report from a driver about a Jeep headed north in the southbound lanes on the Spaulding Turnpike in Dover around 1:20 a.m., according to State Police. The driver, Donald P. Mulligan Jr.,47, of Dracut, Massachusetts, was stopped near Exit 9 (Route 9/Route 108) using a tire deflation device.

Mulligan was charged with reckless conduct (Class B felony) and driving under the influence of liquor (Class B misdemeanor). He was held in protective custody at the Strafford County House of Corrections.

The saturation patrols are funded by the New Hampshire Office of Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which allows for more troopers to focus on traffic enforcement along major corridors.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH