CONTACT:
Sergeant Glen Lucas
Conservation Officer Levi Frye
603-788-4850
603-271-3361
September 28, 2020

Errol, NH – Fish and Game Conservation Officers received a call reporting an ATV crash on the 13-Mile Woods Trail in Errol, at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Saturday September 26, 2020.

Benjamin Dahlstrom, 38, of Athol, Massachusetts, was injured after crashing off the trail and being pinned underneath the ATV that he was operating. No one else was on the machine at the time of the crash. It was reported that Dahlstrom was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash and sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Dahlstrom was third in line of a large group of OHRVs and the crash was witnessed by the fourth operator in the line. The witness stated that Dahsltrom was attempting to navigate a downhill slope of trail and failed to keep his machine under control. It was reported that his rear tires came off the ground and it appeared that he grabbed the front brakes. This action caused Dahlstrom to veer off the left side of the trail and over an embankment.

Errol Fire and Rescue, Errol Ambulance, Dartmouth Hitchcock Advanced Response Team (DHART), and a Conservation Officers responded to the scene. Dahlstrom was treated and then transported from the scene by Errol Fire and Rescue’s UTV to the awaiting ambulance. From there he was taken to Errol International Airport and airlifted by DHART to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine for treatment.

The crash is still under investigation but inexperience is considered the main contributing factor.

Errol, NH – On Sunday, September 27, 2020 at approximately 2:00 p.m., NH Fish and Game Conservation Officers were notified of a single-vehicle ATV crash that occurred on the 13-Mile Woods Trail in Errol. The caller stated that the operator as well as her passenger had been thrown from the machine and the extent of injury was unknown.

Conservation Officers, Errol Fire and Rescue, and Errol Ambulance responded to the scene to assist the patient, identified as Melissa Mitchell, 36, of Warwick, Rhode Island, and her daughter, who was the passenger on the machine. Mitchell’s daughter was seemingly uninjured but was transported to Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook by Errol Ambulance to clear her of any injuries just to be safe.

While interviewing the patient and witness, Conservation Officers determined that Mitchell had been riding in a group of two ATVs with her boyfriend and their respective children. She had been riding last in the group, and when her boyfriend did not see her for a little while, he turned back to find that she had crashed.

Upon investigation of the scene, Conservation Officers determined that while descending a curvy, downhill portion of the 13-Mile Woods Trail, Mitchell lost control of her machine and flipped it over. She and her passenger were thrown from the machine and the machine landed in a ditch next to the trail.

Witnesses to the crash rushed to her aid and a 911 call was placed. Other ATV operators took the time out of their ride to assist in removing the machine from the ditch and tow it to the trailhead for Mitchell and her party.

Errol Ambulance transported Mitchell to Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital’s helicopter pad where she was met by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team (DHART) helicopter. DHART then transported her to UVM Medical Center in Burlington, VT, with serious injuries.

Officers determined that no alcohol or drugs were involved and credit operator inexperience and excessive speed as the primary factors in the crash.

No further information is available at this time.