New Hampshire

Video shows

Published

6 days ago

May 9, 2025

New video shows the dramatic moment a car went careening out of control through the Market Basket parking lot in Manchester, New Hampshire, flipping and striking several vehicles before coming to a stop on its side.

“Basically, the car was like driving by itself, it happened so quick,” said Fiordaliz Lopez.

She was heading to work at a dental office next to the supermarket around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday when she says the electric Toyota suddenly accelerated on its own and the brakes weren’t working.

Driver said the car would not brake

“I was screaming like the car cannot brake, the car cannot brake, and I don’t know when I’m going to end,” Lopez said.

A woman says her electric Toyota went out of control and crashed in Manchester, NH Market Basket parking lot.

CBS Boston

With smoke billowing from the car, she believes the ending was nothing short of a miracle. Vehicles, but not pedestrians, were struck in the busy supermarket parking lot, and she was still alive.

“My car flipped over and thank God nothing happened to me because I was thinking that was the last day of my life,” Lopez said. “That’s what I was thinking when the car was out of control that I’m going to die.”

She says the seatbelt saved her life as she was left dangling inside the overturned car with onlookers rushing to help her amid the struggle to free herself.

“I put my feet on the door of the driver’s side, pushed myself up and they finished taking me out,” Lopez said.

“That was God who helped me out”

There is bruising on her arm and a painful burn on her neck as she hung from the seatbelt before being lifted out through the broken glass window. The possible mechanical failure is being investigated as Lopez says there is no way she inadvertently hit the gas.

Manchester crash — A woman says her electric Toyota went out of control and crashed in Manchester, NH Market Basket parking lot.

CBS Boston
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She believes a higher power helped that day. “That was God who helped me out, because there’s no way I could have gotten myself out of that car,” Lopez said.

She says the memory of the close call and how tragedy was averted will stay with her for some time.

Beth Germano

Emmy award-winning Beth Germano is a general assignment reporter for WBZ-TV News. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Germano has been a New England-based reporter for more than 30 years.

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire Senators Approve Psilocybin Decriminalization Bill

Published

13 hours ago

May 15, 2025

Press Room

New Hampshire Senators Approve Psilocybin Decriminalization Bill

A New Hampshire Senate panel has advanced a House-passed bill to decriminalize the use and possession of psilocybin by adults.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Verville (R), cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 3-2 vote on Tuesday. It previously passed the full House of Representatives in March.

Before approving the legislation, members of the Senate panel attached an amendment that would enact mandatory minimum sentences for certain fentanyl-related offenses and for distribution of drugs that result in a user’s death.

Sen. Tara Reardon (D) asked colleagues if the idea is that “we’re trading” the House-favored move to reduce psilocybin penalties in exchange “for enhanced penalties” on fentanyl that were contained in a separate bill that passed the Senate in January and has since remained pending before the House Judiciary Committee for months.

“One might say that, yes,” replied Chairman Bill Gannon (R).

Under the psychedelic-focused provisions of HB 528, a first psilocybin offense would be a violation, subject to a fine of $100 or less.

Second and third psilocybin offenses, meanwhile, would be class B misdemeanors, carrying fines of up to $500 and $1,000, respectively, but with no risk of jail time. Fourth and subsequent offenses would remain classified as felonies.

Sales and distribution of the substance would still be illegal, as the reform would apply only to “a person 18 years of age or older who obtains, purchases, transports, possesses, or uses psilocybin.”

As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it in March.

Verville previously told Marijuana Moment that the House’s passage of his psilocybin bill was “an historic, albeit small first step on our journey to correct 60 years of demonstrably failed policy on psychedelics.”

“This bipartisan, common sense legislation will end the decades long terror of becoming a felon for possession of mushrooms that grow naturally in New Hampshire, North America, and across the globe,” he said. “Our fight is far from over. Our attention will now turn to the NH Senate, in hopes of having them concur with the position of the House, and then beseech our governor to allow the bill to pass into law.”

The measure now proceeds to the floor of the Senate, which has historically resisted House-passed drug policy reform measures, including those to legalize marijuana, where its fate is uncertain. If approved there, it would return to the House in its amended form, where representatives would need to decide whether to accept the newly added fentanyl penalties.

Meanwhile, recent state polling suggests New Hampshire residents strongly legalizing marijuana. Late last month, a Granite State Poll, from the University of New Hampshire’s States of Opinion Project, found 70 percent support for the reform, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents.

Pennsylvania Governor Slams GOP Senators For ‘Ignoring’ Voters By Killing Marijuana Legalization Bill

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New Hampshire

2 indicted in NH after body of woman who overdosed was dumped in Mass.

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2025

Press Room

2 indicted in NH after body of woman who overdosed was dumped in Mass.

Two people arrested after the body of a New Hampshire woman who overdosed was dumped in Massachusetts have been indicted, authorities said Wednesday.

Justina Steffy, 31, was reported missing by police in Keene, New Hampshire, in October. Later that month, investigators confirmed that human remains discovered in Warwick, Massachusetts, were identified as Steffy.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said investigators had learned Steffy died inside a Keene home on Oct. 13 after a fatal drug overdose. After her body was found Oct. 23 in Warwick, an autopsy was conducted and her death was ruled a homicide caused by the combined toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP and xylazine.

In February, authorities announced 42-year-old Andrea Martin and 32-year-old Christian Torruellas had been arrested.

Martin was charged with dispensing a controlled drug with death resulting after prosecutors alleged that she and another person provided Steffy with a controlled drug containing fentanyl, and she died as a result of the injection or ingestion of that drug. She is also charged with a count of falsifying physical evidence for removing Steffy’s body from Keene and disposing of it in Warwick.

Martin and Torruellas are also charged with kidnapping, with prosecutors alleging they confined a woman under their control from about Oct. 1-17 “with a purpose to terrorize that person and/or others.” Martin is also charged with another kidnapping count, alleging that from Oct. 10-13 she acted in concert with another person to confine Steffy under her control.

Martin and Torruellas were each also charged with a count of “trafficking in persons” for allegedly knowingly compelling an adult victim other than Steffy, to perform a service or labor against their will “by causing or threatening to cause serious harm to that person, confining them unlawfully by means of actual and threatened use of force, threatening to commit crimes against that person, facilitating or controlling their access to an addictive controlled substance, and/or engaging in a scheme, plan, or pattern (overt or subtle) intended to cause the person to believe that if such labor or services were not performed they would suffer serious physical harm or physical restraint.”

A Cheshire County grand jury returned indictments for the charges against Martin and Torruellas, the office of Attorney General John Formella said.

Both suspects are due to be arraigned at Cheshire County Superior Court on June 12. It was not immediately clear if they had attorneys.

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