By Dan O’Brien
The Union Leader
NEWPORT, NH — A Newport police officer who formerly served as the Rindge police chief and a Hillsborough selectman has resigned after his weekend arrest on a drunken driving charge with his 4-year-old son in the vehicle.
Joseph Collins, 45, submitted his resignation yesterday to Newport Police Chief David Hoyt, saying it would take effect immediately.
“It’s a shock,” Hoyt said. “He’s always been a good officer.”
Collins served as Rindge police chief from October 2000 to February 2003, according to Rindge Town Administrator Carlotta Lilback Pini.
“He was professional and he took his work very seriously,” Lilback Pini said, adding that Collins left the job on his own accord.
Collins also served a term as a Hillsborough selectman from March 2007 until last March when he opted not to run for reelection, according to Wendy Baker, the administrative assistant at Hillsborough Town Hall.
In addition to working for Newport police for the past year and a half, Collins worked as a police officer in Sunapee, Keene and the New Hampshire Police Academy, Hoyt said.
Hoyt said that even though Collins no longer works for Newport police, he is still certified as a police officer. Hoyt said the state’s Police Standards and Training Council has been notified of Collins’ arrest and must provide him due process before possibly stripping his certification.
Bradford police said an officer was monitoring traffic on the side of Route 103 about 8 p.m. Saturday when a motorist approached and reported an erratic driver nearby.
The motorist said the erratic driver, who was in a pickup truck, had pulled over to let other traffic pass, according to police.
The Bradford officer drove down Route 103 and came upon the pickup truck driving erratically near Route 114, according to Police Chief James Valiquet.
Valiquet said the truck driver, later identified as Collins, pulled over and cooperated with the officer, but refused a breath-alcohol test.
The 4-year-old boy was released to the custody of his mother, and the truck was returned to the registered owner, police said.
When Collins was arrested, he reportedly told police he lived in Hillsborough, but Valiquet said that residence is the home of Collins’ estranged wife and he no longer lives there. Authorities are not sure of his address, but believe Collins is staying with people in Sunapee, Valiquet said.
Hoyt also said Collins is living in Sunapee.
A phone number for Collins could not be found.
Collins was released from jail on $2,500 personal recognizance bail.
He’s scheduled for arraignment Aug. 17 in Henniker District Court.
Copyright 2010 Union Leader Corp.