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Man in handcuffs next to a fire truck
The average person is not equipped to fight a sizable fire, and victims of one tend to be grateful for the firefighters who are dispatched to handle those situations. However, one man in New Hampshire seemingly spotted an opportunity after stealing a fire truck that had been sent to battle a blaze at his home.
Matt Damon’s character in The Departed may not have been a huge fan of firefighters, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many people who have an inherent issue with the first responders who opted for that particular line of work.
After all, we’re talking about men and women (many of whom are volunteers who don’t earn a single cent for their selflessness) who won’t think twice about running directly into a burning building while attending to the many other emergencies that call for the services of a profession that claimed the lives of 81 people in the line of work in 2025.
There aren’t many scenarios where firefighters aren’t welcomed with open arms when they’re dispatched somewhere they’re needed, but that was not the case with one incident that recently unfolded in New England.
A man in New Hampshire was arrested for stealing a fire truck as firefighters were trying to put out a blaze at his house
According to the New Hampshire State Police, multiple fire departments were tapped to respond to a call on rural property in the town of Dalton (located on the Connecticut River near the Vermont border in the northwest part of the state) early in the morning of Tuesday, August 25th.
Firefighters from that town teamed up with a brigade that was sent from Whitefield to battle the blaze. It broke out at the home of a 30-year-old man identified as Nestor Roman II, who allegedly made a very ill-advised decision as the first responders were attempting to put it out.
Police say Roman decided to hop behind the wheel of a rescue truck that Whitefield’s fire department had driven to the scene and subsequently “struck another Whitefield Fire & Rescue engine actively engaged in firefighting operations, drove over multiple water supply lines, and narrowly missed three firefighters (wooden fences at two separate properties were also damaged).”
State troopers eventually received a call from the owner of a nearby property, who informed them the truck in question crashed there while adding the driver was “attempting to take items from the porch of the home.” They were able to apprehend Roman, who was hit the following charges:
- Reckless conduct with a deadly weapon (three counts, all felonies)
- Burglary theft by unauthorized taking (two counts, both felonies)
- Obstructing government administration (a misdemeanor, as is the case with the rest that follow)
- Conduct after an accident (four counts)
- Resisting arrest and detention
- Driving with a suspended license
- Driving over a fire hose (two counts)
The first charge is the most serious and carries a sentence of between three and a half and seven years in prison and a fine of up to $4,000. Roman was arraigned on Wednesday, but it’s unclear if he entered a plea.