Coming up...
So, right around here is where this doe got hit...
And us trying to find these two fawns right now
is probably an impossibility.
64, matt. Okay.
I'll take the lead.
[ engines rumbling ]
♪
I got you.
Pull right over here!
Augh!
[ grunts ]
teen: I thought someone was gonna come after me.
And then, I got to the next intersection,
and then just kept going.
Disobeying an officer is a misdemeanor,
so I need the son to come clean and confirm what I suspect.
It sounds like you saw me.
It sounds like you saw blue lights
and you made a decision to keep going.
[ bird screeches ]
narrator: From the white mountains of the northeast
to the shores of the atlantic ocean,
the conservation officers of new hampshire
stop at nothing to protect the wildlife...
There's no point in lying. You shot the deer.
...Preserve the resources...
[ gunshot ] fish and game!
...Catch the violators...
Man: Do you want to end up in handcuffs?
Narrator: ...And serve the citizens
of the "live free or die" state.
-One, two, three. -Patrick!
We're literally gonna be elbow to elbow.
I don't like to be lied to even a little.
Towne: Pretty healthy.
Success.
It's like I'm talking to a wall.
Show me something.
-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com
captions paid for by discovery communications
♪
[ phone line rings ]
hey, it's fish and game 36.
Hey, is 6227 to bridgewater?
All right, I'm just coming in to bridgewater
if he needs a hand.
All right, sounds good.
Yep, bye.
It sounded like a state trooper was looking for assistance
trying to find a guy in the woods.
♪
hello, how are you?
Okay, so he's in his house now?
Okay, I'm just gonna let state police know.
Fish and game 36, "troop f" on tenning.
Just an update, that individual is no longer in the woods.
I'll be waiting for your unit's arrival.
Does he have any weapons in the house?
Okay.
He's had these before -- these episodes?
Yeah.
Hmm.
That is southwest, too.
♪
how's it going?
How are you? Good.
So, he's in his room playing music.
I guess that calms him down.
But no known weapons in the house.
Okay.
So, a kid set off a firecracker,
and he was, like, diving on the ground.
Yeah, that triggered him.
Yeah. All right.
We'll see if he'll come out.
Yeah.
We're gonna try to get him out to us.
What's the best way he could probably hear us
from where he is?
Woman: Do you want me to try to text him?
Officer: Could you call him, maybe?
♪
I got a buddy out here, and he's a marine.
I was army.
We just need you to come down.
I want to make sure that you're safe
and you're not in trouble,
and then we'll get out of your hair, brother.
How's that sound?
You're gonna come down to the back porch for us?
All right, I appreciate it, brother.
♪
towne: So, my role here today
has turned into kind of like support services.
The trooper and the bristol officer,
they're both dealing with this victim.
And so, I'm gonna try to reach the v.A.
I'm here with a veteran that had an episode
when some kids set off some firecrackers,
and I was trying to reach his therapist.
We're just trying to get him the help that he needs
from the v.A. -- Letting them know what happened --
and hopefully, they'll be reaching out to him
to give him some help.
Officer: He's severely more calm now
than he was when I first started talking to him.
All right, thank you.
Yep, bye.
So, the nurse that I had
put all this into the chart so that they are aware of it,
and they're gonna touch base.
Yep.
At this time, he doesn't appear to be a threat
to himself or anyone else.
He's going through a lot of stuff.
All right. Well, all right.
Hey, thanks. Have a good one.
You, too.
♪
it's crazy to think about that.
You get sent to vietnam when you were 18 years old,
and you're still dealing with the consequences of that.
We all want him to be healthy
and not to have these issues
that he got by serving his country.
Hopefully, he gets some help,
and it sounds like it's been an ongoing journey for him
to get that help.
♪
so, today, I'm headed out to address some off-road activity
on the eastern side of coos county.
We're in mid-June now,
and everything is going on as far as outdoor recreation.
There's a lot of atv and side-by-side riding going on,
so I'm gonna concentrate on enforcing speed and registration
and modified exhaust issues
and then see where the day takes me from there.
Narrator: In dummer, new hampshire,
conservation officer matt holmes
meets up with officer bob mancini to run atv patrol.
♪
holmes: Hey, bob.
How's it going?
Oh, I'm set.
Ah, I'm doing okay.
[ laughs ]
matt gave me a call this morning
asking if I wanted to meet up with him on dummer pond road.
We've had some recent complaints
reference excessive speed, and together, hopefully,
we can identify some of the problems
and do some enforcement today.
I'll follow you, matthew.
Holmes: Okay.
♪
all right.
This particular section of dummer pond road
is posted at 25 miles an hour.
It's a shared route.
You have conventional motor vehicles
traveling up and down the road.
It is dusty,
and you really need to adhere to those speed limits
just to be safe.
♪
she's tested and ready to go.
Holmes: We got one at 70 here last weekend.
70?! 70.
Well, he's getting the treatment.
Fined wanting to get 70.
That's ridiculous.
Like high 20s, low 30s?
27.
They're law-abiding citizens.
That's what we want, right there.
♪
nice fresh north country air, right there.
[ laughs ]
another one?
Yeah.
His tires might just be loud,
but he sounds like he's ripping.
[ approaching motor rumbling ]
64, matt --
first vehicle.
Next vehicle's 54.
Okay, I'll take the lead.
We're gonna stop him right here.
[ engine turns over ]
♪
hi, guys!
Just pull right over here!
♪
augh! [ grunting ]
♪
64, matt.
[ engine turns over ]
♪
narrator: In dummer, new hampshire,
conservation officers matt holmes and bob mancini
pull over a group of atvs
going dangerously over the speed limit.
♪
hi, guys!
Just pull right over here!
♪
augh!
[ grunting ]
[ engine revs ]
help!
♪
help, help!
Ugh!
Mancini: You okay? I hope so!
Mancini: Hold on, matt. Hold on.
Listen, just go down there and get people stopped.
Man: All right.
Get go down there and get people stopped.
I gotta get you out of the trail.
Here we go.
[ grunts ]
♪
stay right here.
÷÷okay? Holmes: Yeah.
Okay. [ grunts ]
I'm gonna get an ambulance here.
Where's your machine?
Don't know.
Fish and game 71. Berlin.
All right, your machine's over there.
Where did you get hit?
I got hit from behind.
Who was it? Was it this guy?
I have no idea. Okay.
I think it was the red machine, but I'm not sure.
I just gotta catch my breath.
I'm doing okay. I can speak clearly.
Can I get an ambulance to dummer pond road, please?
I had a officer that was involved in a 10-25,
and I just need to get him checked out right now.
Am I out of the road, bob?
Yep, we're out of the road.
10-5, thank you.
I gotta sit up or something.
I'm getting too hot.
Okay, hold on. Ow, hold on!
Yeah, yeah, let's stay right where you are.
I'm gonna roll on my back.
Hold on -- no, the recovery position.
You gotta stay right where you are, bud.
If you want your jacket off, I can do that.
♪
just make sure we're covered from the back, bob.
Yeah, I got a guy down there in an orange traffic vest.
I'm gonna position my machine in front of you, okay?
Just hang out here.
There's three utvs that are involved in this incident
along with matt's atv,
and two of them are here right now.
One of them's unaccounted for.
I put the first one that was doing 64 to work
and shut down the trail so no one else gets hurt.
[ sighs ] my tailbone hurts a little bit.
My right arm, ribs.
You got your vest on.
Yeah, got my vest on.
Ribs are sore.
This arm's good.
This arm's good, that arm's no good?
Well, no, I can move it, but it's sore.
Why don't you just address, you know --
just get ids of the other folks, bob.
Get them going, get them out of here.
[ grunts ]
even though he's in such a bad predicament,
he's still being my partner.
We're still able to bounce a few things off of each other,
such as grabbing the ids
and trying to identify who was involved.
You're not under arrest right now or anything.
Your cooperation is critical.
Obviously, my buddy's hurt right now.
I apologize.
And my first priority is him...
That's fine. I understand that.
...But at some point, we're gonna need to figure out
who else was involved.
Okay? Okay.
Are you o-- where's your passenger?
She went up there to make sure everybody else was all right.
Okay.
As luck would have it, the first three riders
that are coming onto the scene
are trained emergency medical technicians
from gilmanton fire,
and I am so relieved to know that they're here.
Hi, guys.
Legs move okay, matt?
Holmes: Yep, legs are moving okay.
Fingers?
Yep.
Um, I'm not sure.
I'm not sure.
I seem to remember a red and white side-by-side
sliding sideways and...
In my back, kind of between my shoulders.
Yep, up high.
Did someone slide sideways in the back of me?
Yes, I think so.
Holmes: No.
Oh, this arm hurts.
Back of the main arm.
Yep.
I'm having a hard time remembering what happened.
Did I get hit?
So, you come through the dust cloud.
You see, like, right in front of you --
woman: Right before.
Man: There was no way of me to stop.
I was over the speed limit.
Yep. I will admit.
50 miles an hour sounds about where I was.
Yeah.
I appreciate your honesty,
'cause if you weren't going over the speed limit,
you probably would have been able to stop
as to avoid collision.
It would have been less damage.
Yep.
Bottom line is, you're gonna end up
getting a ticket for speeding, okay?
And hopefully, everybody's okay.
You guys are being cooperative, I can't thank you enough.
If you guys want to hang out
near your machine for right now --
and, again, thank you very much.
Okay.
♪
and I gotta tell you, I'm having a hard time.
Remembering what happened.
Initially, when I dragged matt to the side of the road,
I'm speaking with him,
and everything appears to be good,
and to learn that the emts are concerned
of a serious head injury --
that he's having memory loss --
you know, my heart's in my throat, at this point.
Fish and game 71, berlin.
Can you check on the status of dhart?
We're about a mile-and-a-half from the junction of 16
and dummer pond road.
Man: One, two, three.
I'm going to the right.
Okay, almost up.
[ sirens wailing ]
the local ambulance is now here,
and a helicopter asset is also en route
and is potentially gonna be meeting matt at the hospital.
Man: Ready?
One, two, three, up.
Holmes: [ grunts ] hold still.
♪
man: [ grunts ]
okay, we'll get you off that cold metal now.
Scary stuff.
Yeah, this is one of my best friends.
Matt, I'm gonna check in with you later, okay?
Yep.
Meredith has been notified, okay, bud?
Repeating questions --
repeating anything --
is indicative of a head injury,
and a serious one, at that.
Holmes: Yeah, I definitely got my bell rung.
I don't remember.
♪
holmes: Yeah, I definitely got my bell rung.
I don't remember.
Narrator: In dummer, new hampshire,
conservation officer bob mancini
and new hampshire state police
are at the scene of an accident
involving officer matt holmes.
Officer: Are you good? Yeah, man, I'm good.
I'm just -- it's a lot, you know?
Like, right up front like that just...
♪
but it's funny, everything's in slow motion.
But now, you start...
You know, second-guessing things, and -- it's fine.
I'm just glad he's at the hospital
where he can get help.
Seeing matt en route to the hospital
was a huge relief for me
because he's on his way to get the care he needs.
Now that new hampshire state police troopers are on scene,
I have available resources to help document the scene,
do interviews,
and gather all the necessary facts
involved in this incident.
Matt pulled out to make contact with the first two operators,
and within moments, he was struck by operator three.
Operator one is currently blocking traffic
at the next junction.
Operator three is here with me.
They're okay.
And I have no idea where operator two is,
and I need to figure out where he is.
♪
I appreciate you doing what I asked you to do, okay?
We were running radar.
I had you at 64 miles an hour.
I had your boy behind you at 55.
So, I'm gonna deal with the speed at some point.
I just need to identify you.
Do you have your license? Yes, I do.
And can you have your son either come back here
and talk to me real quick, or --?
I don't know if I can get a hold of him.
Okay. I'll try, all right?
But he's one of those with the phone dead all the time.
I'm gonna give you my phone number.
I want you to have your son call me
if you can't get ahold of him.
My name's bob mancini.
Just hang on to that.
If you can just hang out here still for a little while...
...We'll let you know when I'm finished up, all right?
All right.
Nothing about the fines and all that.
It's just a bad -- it sucked.
It sucked, especially someone getting hurt.
Yep, I agree. You know what I'm saying?
All right, thank you. We'll be in touch.
The first operator is being very cooperative.
I'm not sure where the second rider is at this time,
but the father is trying to track him down
so I can issue them speeding tickets at a later date.
At this point, I'm gonna return to the scene
and speak with state police and turn over the information
that I've gathered thus far.
I take it that's the guy right there?
Yep, yep, he's the operator,
and he's been very cooperative.
He gave me the other two people
that we were initially going after.
We got him stopped and identified.
I'm gonna be dealing with them later on.
That red --?
That red thing is the one that hit matt.
All right.
So, matt's machine is up against the tree over here.
Despite this incident happening in my presence,
it would be a conflict for me
to take any type of enforcement action
on the operator that hit matt.
Troopers are going to be taking over the investigation.
So, it gets hit back here
and then comes to a final rest up against --
you can see it right here in the woods.
Officer: Anything else moved?
This is where matt was...
Right here.
All right, there's a mark.
And I dragged him.
So, his machine's there.
That machine's --
none of this has been moved.
Okay.
I had to move him 'cause it was so dusty.
I was afraid he was gonna get hit by somebody else.
Every available officer in district one
has a job right now.
Lieutenant ober
and conservation officer eric fluette
are both on scene now with me
helping kind of piece things together,
and conservation officer egan is actually on his way
to go pick up matt's wife to take her to the hospital.
Everybody's, you know -- really cares about matt,
and we all want to help in some way.
So, I want to know...
Where the second guy is
and why he never came back,
because, at a minimum,
I think that I gave every reasonable effort
to identify myself and slow him down.
I was off the shoulder of the road going like this
as he's coming back.
Now, he could say that there's dust
and that he didn't see me,
but I want to hear that from him.
Pull right over here!
♪
I observed the first two riders traveling at an excessive speed,
and I'm gonna make every effort
to meet up with them at a later date
and hold them accountable for those actions.
[ engine turns over ]
eric, it started!
For now, lieutenant ober and officer fluette
who are gonna help me get matt's machine out of here
so we can call it a day
and come up with a plan to investigate
the two other riders.
What a day.
I've known matt since I was a trainee back in 2010.
We ended up having a really close friendship.
So, for me, it's tougher right now
than it was when it happened,
because now I have time to think about it.
When it happens, it's out of your control,
but I can see what's going on.
I get an idea of, you know, how he's doing.
But now, there's a lot of uncertainty,
'cause I can't talk to him, check in on him.
I just hope he's gonna be all right.
Probably won't sleep much tonight.
♪
all right.
So, I started the day off with a phone call.
I have to call a lady in new boston
who says there is an injured deer in the road,
and for some reason, dispatch has said
they're not sure if there's a baby around, as well.
So we'll try and figure out what's going on.
[ phone line rings ]
hi, this is kevin bronson with fish and game.
How are you?
Good.
So, what's the deal with this doe?
Okay, gotcha.
I will head down that way, too,
take a look.
Yeah, have a good day.
Bye.
This situation isn't unusual.
When motor vehicle collisions are happening
during the spring, it's always a concern
of if it was a doe with her fawns,
'cause a lot of fawns right now are very vulnerable
if mom is not providing for them.
They wouldn't survive on their own.
[ phone line rings ]
hello?
Yes.
Hey, sarge.
That'd be perfect.
All right, thanks.
Bye.
[ cellphone vibrates ]
♪
he sent me the picture.
To me, at this point, looks like it is lactating,
so very well may be the mother of these twins.
Unfortunately, that would mean
that these fawns have been orphaned,
so we're probably gonna have to intervene at some point
and get those fawns to a rehabber.
♪
so, right around here is where this doe got hit.
♪
you can definitely see why it got hit.
It's a busy road.
♪
and us trying to find these two fawns right now
is probably an impossibility.
There is such thick stuff here,
which is probably why she's living here.
♪
oh, look at that.
There's a fawn.
You've got to be kidding me.
♪
bronson: So, right around here is where this doe got hit.
♪
can definitely see why it got hit.
It's a busy road.
Trying to find these two fawns right now
is probably an impossibility.
Narrator: In new boston, new hampshire,
sergeant kevin bronson searches for two baby deer
whose mother was hit by a car.
♪
oh, look at that. There's a fawn.
You've got to be kidding me.
♪
what are the frickin' chances?
There she is.
Unbelievable.
[ door alarm chiming ]
♪
they just ran up,
and then it kind of flattens out.
They're right at the top of that flat right now.
[ high voice ] yeah, sweeties.
[ kisses ]
[ normal voice ] so, now that I actually have seen these two fawns
that I've heard about,
I really want to get a good evaluation
on their overall health
and where they're at in growing.
Oh, there they go.
I'm never gonna catch them in 100 years.
From what I've seen so far,
it looks like these two fawns
are pretty far in their development,
and they're very healthy,
and they're avoiding me -- which is great to see
that they're trying to avoid predators.
I really do think that was their mother,
'cause she got hit right here.
So, I'm gonna call our wildlife division
to let them know with what's going on.
What are the chances of that?
Hundreds of acres of woods,
and here I am just driving around.
A♪
♪
I don't know what to do with them right now,
'cause they're not showing signs of abandonment yet,
but if the mother got hit this morning,
they wouldn't be showing signs
that they are in distress right now
'cause they're not in distress.
But they will be tomorrow...
So I'm gonna reach out to wildlife.
[ phone line rings ]
♪
hey, dan. How's it going?
Another day in paradise.
Our deer biologist, he has a much better understanding
of deer biology than I do.
I can send you the picture.
It looks it to me, but I honestly don't know.
I tried to get close to them,
and they just bolted.
Yeah.
Okay.
Talk to you later.
Bye.
He's thinking along the same lines as I am --
that these are probably two fawns
that have a very viable chance to survive on their own
if their mother is absent.
So, right now, I'm gonna stop by the person's house
who called about the doe getting hit
and the fawns being in the area.
If these fawns do start deteriorating,
we can make a plan to help 'em out.
♪
hi, how are you? Good, how are you?
I found the fawns...
And they will not let me get anywhere near them.
We think it might be.
Okay, yeah, and that's --
so they look to be right about that size
where they'd be getting weaned.
If you start seeing them around
and they're being very vocal,
that's a problem.
We're probably gonna have to try and catch them.
But they're in such good health right now.
They're, like, bolting.
They're not letting me get anywhere near 'em.
Okay, well, that's good.
But have you ever seen them browsing?
Like, eating any grass or anything?
Oh, yeah. Oh, that's good.
Yep. That's good.
Bronson: This is a great situation with the homeowner,
and it's important for me
to have people like that in the community
that can observe situations like this as they develop,
because our first course of action is observation
and not necessarily trying to immediately scoop up an animal
to take to a rehabilitation center.
Hopefully, at this point, they're gonna be okay
to just switch to browse and grass
and stuff like that and be fine,
but if they don't, give us a holler.
Okay. All right.
All right, thank you. Thanks so much.
Thank you. Take care.
You, too.
At the end of the day,
we're making the best out of a very unfortunate turn of events.
The mother has been donated to a family that could use the meat.
Looks like the two fawns are in a situation that --
they have a viable chance of surviving in the wild.
So, all in all, I'd say it's a successful situation.
♪
yesterday, immediately following the collision,
I didn't have the luxury
of doing what I would normally do,
where I make my decision about a summons or a warning,
and then issue the proper paperwork.
Obviously, matt's well-being was far more important
than chasing anybody down at that minute.
He's out of the hospital and he's home.
Fortunately, the operator that struck matt
provided me with the two people that I picked up on my radar
that we were initially going out to stop.
The driver that hit matt is being investigated
by new hampshire state police,
but I'll be dealing with the two other riders.
It turns out, the son --
operator two, the one that fled --
has a history of warnings for speed
with fish and game.
I don't know why he never returned to my location.
I just have to determine
whether anybody was knowingly leaving the scene
after I flagged them over,
essentially disobeying an officer.
So, once I get a better understanding,
I'll feel a lot better about this whole thing.
There he is, right there.
♪
[ seatbelt clicks ]
♪
the father has arrived first,
so I'm gonna talk to him about his violation
until the son arrives,
I need to thank you,
because after I waved you down...
Man: Yeah.
...You went up the trail,
you turned around, and you came back.
You were doing the right thing,
and I appreciate that.
And you helped me. Yeah.
I asked you, I said, "please go down there
and direct traffic," and you did it.
Someone was hurt.
That was in my mind, you know, and that was just --
yeah. You know?
So I just want to thank you.
No, I appreciate it. All right.
So, there's that. All right.
So, right now,
you're getting a ticket for speeding, okay?
You were doing 64 miles an hour.
It's a 25-mile-an-hour posted,
so it's a $284 ticket.
All right, so, fine amount's $248.
It's for 64 on the trail.
Yeah. Okay?
Here's your copy.
All you have to do is follow the instructions.
Okay?
So that's that.
Is he here yet?
Okay.
Hey, appreciate you coming back to talk to me.
I'm just trying to figure out what happened.
I'm gonna tell you my rendition,
and I just want to hear your rendition.
So, I'm standing on the side of the road,
and I'm running radar like this.
And, uh...
I see dad come in.
I call out his speed to my partner,
and I see you coming.
I call out your speed to my partner.
And then, as you guys are approaching,
I step out into the trail
and I go like this.
And I'm walking backwards.
I'm going like this, all right?
Dad drives by...
And turns around and comes back
right at the time, roughly, that my partner gets hit.
Now, I saw you brake.
Yeah, 'cause I asked him what was happening.
Okay.
And he said he was getting pulled over.
So, you did pull over.
You did look back and see the blue lights.
Okay. Did you see me?
I didn't see you. I only saw one cop.
It might have been you.
Where was the cop where you saw him?
Right on the side of the trail.
That was me.
So, here's the thing --
your dad is a stand-up dude.
Yep.
And I hope there's a lesson to be learned here,
because he turned around and came back.
Not only was he gonna answer to me for speeding,
but if it wasn't for him,
we probably would have got ran over.
Now...
You could have also helped with that situation,
and you left.
And, frankly, you saw me on the side of the trail.
You saw me signaling you.
I did not see you go like this.
I saw the radar. You saw the radar.
Now, you see the blue lights.
You see dad pull around.
Did you just make a decision like,
"I'm just gonna get out of here"?
I didn't think I was --
I just kept going.
I didn't, like, floor it.
I just kept going at the same speed.
I thought someone was gonna come after me.
And then, I got to the next intersection,
waited there, and then just kept going.
I wasn't gonna go back.
That's horrible to say.
It's almost like when you're going down the highway
and you get your speed
and someone else is speeding in front of you.
Yes, I get it. I get it.
Everything that I know now
indicates that operator two was present for the collision
and made a conscious decision to leave.
Disobeying an officer is a misdemeanor --
it's arrestable -- so I need the son
to come clean and confirm what I suspect
so that I can hold him accountable.
It sounds like you saw me.
It sounds like you saw blue lights...
And you made a decision to keep going.
♪
teen: I thought someone was gonna come after me.
And then, I got to the next intersection,
waited there, and then just kept going.
I wasn't gonna go back.
It sounds like you saw me.
It sounds like you saw blue lights...
And you made a decision to keep going.
♪
is that fair?
Narrator: In gorham, new hampshire,
conservation officer bob mancini
questions an atv operator
who he suspects intentionally disobeyed his order
to pull over during a traffic stop.
This is what I'm looking at.
Mm-hmm. Okay?
I'm out in the trail.
No, I kn--
I -- yep.
I saw you wave.
I'm not gonna lie.
All right.
I did.
I'll take -- I mean --
all right, so, what's gonna happen is,
I'm gonna issue you a ticket for speeding.
All right?
And I'm gonna also issue you a ticket
for disobeying an officer, all right?
If a cop is flagging you down, you gotta stop.
I agree with you.
Thank you for being a gentleman, all right?
I don't hold it against you.
Nope. My buddy is doing better.
Uh-huh. I'm glad to hear that.
Matt's doing better, all right?
And everything's gonna level off.
I'm sorry for what happened.
Your owning up for it right now.
I judge people by whether they can take accountability,
and when given the opportunity,
he admitted that he was wrong.
He admitted that he saw me attempt to stop him
and that he continued,
and that honesty means something to me.
Even though he made the wrong decision yesterday,
he made the right decision today.
What is "disobeying an officer" charge?
Disobeying falls under a misdemeanor.
You're getting a ticket for 248 bucks
for speed alone.
Disobeying carries a fine of up to $1,200
plus penalty assessment.
So, for that, you're looking at
close to $1,450.
And I am the prosecutor,
so I have prosecutorial authority
on how I handle things.
So I will try to work with you
while being fair and impartial, okay?
Going forward, are you gonna be like dad?
Yeah. Okay.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
Appreciate you being a nice dude, too.
Thanks.
Take care, okay? Man: Yep.
All right, you guys, I've had a long night.
You guys have had a long night.
Safe travels back down south.
Being able to be fair and hold them accountable
was a big deal for me.
It brings closure to the situation.
I feel like it's a successful mission.
Matt and I set out yesterday to do speed enforcement,
and we did.
All right, let's go see matt.
♪
yesterday, at this time, matt and I were trailside,
and matt was in a world of hurt.
I just want to be able to see him
and make sure he's doing good.
It's been a lot of ups and downs,
as far as emotions go.
And I also wanted to give him an update
on what's going on in our case.
All right, we're almost here.
♪
look at that. There he is right there.
♪
look at that. There he is right there.
Narrator: In coos county, new hampshire,
conservation officer bob mancini
reunites with officer matt holmes,
who is recovering after being struck by an atv.
He's porch-rockin'.
He's looking pretty good.
Banged up a little bit.
You're looking good!
Don't get up.
You stay right there.
No.
What are you do-- [ laughs ]
stubborn.
It's good to see you, bud.
Likewise, man.
How's meredith holding up?
You doing all right?
[ indistinct chatter ]
oh, it is good to see you upright.
I feel very lucky...
Mancini: You're lucky. ... To be here.
Oh, my god.
It's a miracle that you were on your machine.
Yep.
If you were off your machine,
this wouldn't be the same.
Overall, I'm feeling pretty darn good.
I am very lucky in that most of my injuries are superficial.
I've got scrapes and bruises and all kinds of stuff.
I did break eight ribs in the process of this crash,
but overall, my head's intact,
my back's intact,
and being home with my family
is the best feeling I could ask for.
It's just one of those things, you know?
Sometimes you just don't question why, you know?
It went down the way it did,
and just gotta be thankful
for everything that's come out of it.
We're lucky.
Pull right over here!
♪
I wore my helmet. It did its job.
I had my flak vest on,
which I wear for both bullets and steering wheels,
and just reiterates a mantra
I've tried to preach and follow,
and now I'm living proof that it works when you wear it.
I got some good news.
Yep.
So we caught up with operator one and his son.
Yep.
The son, he never came back,
never showed up.
And we knew yesterday that speed was an issue,
and ended up charging him with disobeying, as well.
Oh, no kidding?
He made a conscious effort to leave.
The good thing about the whole thing is,
he owned up to it today.
He took responsibility.
He admitted to everything.
Sounds like... It was a good day.
...Things overall went as well as they could have,
and, uh --
yeah, it's surreal.
And, you know, part of what we do --
sometimes for the better, and sometimes not.
Yeah.
Bob and I were out there
very specifically to address speed issues,
and we know that speed issues can lead to crashes,
and that's exactly what went down.
So we need to continue to work speed on our trails
and do our diligence
to make everybody's experience a good one.
So, anything that needs to happen as far as chores,
I got some days off coming up.
Let me know.
You know, whole district wants to come over.
We can all come up,
buck up the wood that needs to be done.
Like, just relax for a while...
Yep. ...And we'll get you.
I will do my best.
We'll be back in the saddle before we know it.
That we will.
Next time, I'm chase vehicle.
No way. [ laughter ]
the number of people that came out to help myself is humbling,
to say the least,
and I'm just so proud to be part of that community
and so thankful for all that they did.
You should take it easy
for the rest of the day, though, okay?
That's the plan, yeah.
I don't do that well, but I'm gonna try.
Okay.
With time in this profession comes experience,
but very little prepares you
to see one of your best friends
lying on the ground needing help.
I am so grateful to see matt happy and recovering.
All right.
Well, enjoy the day with the kids and the wife.
Okay. Bye, meredith.
[ indistinct ] all right.
♪