A 57-year-old Whitefield man was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with stalking and driving to endanger following an alleged road rage incident with a young woman.
Matthew P. Connellan was released later that same morning on $1,000 cash bail with the stipulation that he not have any contact with the 26-year-old victim.
The incident began Monday morning before 8 when the woman was driving and pulled out onto a main road, according to an affidavit filed in Rockland District Court by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Another vehicle quickly passed her and then cut back into her lane so close that she had to brake and veer off to the side of the road, the affidavit states.
The woman told police she beeped her horn and raised her arms as if to ask the other driver what he was doing. The woman thought that was the end of the dispute but then he began driving 25 to 30 miles per hour and whenever she tried to pass him, he would speed up and not allow her to pass. Eventually, she turned off the main road to avoid being behind him, according to the affidavit.
The woman said that she was back at her home at about 1:30 p.m. when she saw the car drive past her home. The man then drove repeatedly by her house, slower each time and staring at her. This continued until nearly 8 p.m. when her boyfriend arrived and the other driver left.
The woman called the sheriff’s department about the incident and provided deputies a license plate number. She was informed that the other car was registered to Connellan, who is a convicted sex offender, according to the affidavit. The woman also identified him through photographs.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office sent a deputy to speak to Connellan that night but even though his car was in the driveway and lights and the television were on, he refused to answer the door. The property had cameras, according to the affidavit.
Connellan was located and arrested the next morning by Knox County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Lance Mitchell.
They caught up with him and arrested him the next day.
According to the state’s sex offender registry, Connellan was convicted of gross sexual assault and possession of sexually explicit material of a child younger than 12 years old.
