SALEM: Woman charged after allegedly coughing in officers faces during DWI arrest

SALEM, NH — An Atkinson woman is facing multiple charges in Salem after allegedly driving while intoxicated, crashing her compact SUV with her juvenile daughter inside and later coughing into arresting officers’ faces Saturday night.

Salem Police responded to an accident at the intersection of Providence Hill and Shannon roads at 8:08 p.m., according to a press release. They found a Dodge Nitro had rolled and was resting on its roof with driver Kaitlyn Reardon, 25, of Atkinson, and her 6-year-old daughter inside.

Neither Reardon nor her daughter appeared to be suffering life-threatening injuries, police said, but the child was transported to Parkland Medical Center in Derry and released to family members shortly after.

Reardon allegedly showed signs of impairment while police spoke with her, and took her into custody for driving while intoxicated.

That’s when Reardon allegedly started to become uncooperative with police. While she was being transported in the back of a cruiser, Reardon removed her handcuffs, police said.

Later, when they arrived at the Salem Police Station, Reardon allegedly refused to wear a face mask and coughed in the faces of the arresting officer and shift commander.

And as she was in the process of being bailed out, police say Reardon threw a pen at an officer in the booking room, after which she was transported to Rockingham County Jail where she was held overnight.

Ultimately, police charged Reardon with aggravated DWI, simple assault, driving under the influence, driving under the influence second offense, open container, endangering the welfare of a child, child restraints, three counts of obstructing government administration, two counts of resisting arrest and two counts of criminal threatening.

Deputy Police Chief Joel Dolan said the criminal threatening charges were related to the alleged coughing in officers’ faces.

He said Reardon was charged for child restraints for an improperly secured child seat.

Reardon is due to be arraigned at Salem District Court on May 18.