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May 6, 2008 5:38 pm US/Eastern
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Candidate Convicted In Fake Crash Arrested
CONCORD, N.H. (WBZ) ―
Gary Dodds, the former congressional candidate convicted of faking his disappearance two years ago, has been arrested in Portsmouth for allegedly violating his bail conditions amid allegations that he assaulted his wife.
Strafford County Attorney Thomas Velardi said Dodds was arrested Tuesday morning near the Cutts Mansion, the apartment building he owns in Portsmouth where he once had his campaign office.
A judge revoked Dodds' bail from his February conviction after allegations surfaced from his wife who said he had been acting irrationally and that he had assaulted her in Florida. Cindy Dodds alleges that Dodds picked her up and threw her on the ground.
Velardi also says Dodds has not been living consistently at his Rye home and had been in Florida recently when he told the court he would be in New Orleans.
Judge Peter Fauver issued the warrant for his arrest and Dodds was taken into custody Tuesday morning.
Cindy Dodds called police in Rye on Monday to report that she and Dodds had argued while on vacation in Florida and that her husband picked her up, threw her to the ground, took his bags and left. She said she was not hurt.
Mrs. Dodds said she called the police to get them to check whether Dodds had flown home.
According to the Rye police report, Mrs. Dodds also said her husband had moved out of their New Hampshire home about a month ago and that the Florida trip "was to try to get things straight."
"The past couple of nights Gary has been staying out until the early morning," said Officer Conlon with the Rye Police Department. "He will not discuss where he goes or what he does."
Cindy Dodds told police, "He had been under a lot of pressure lately and as a result, has been acting irrationally."
Dodds was convicted in February of falsifying physical evidence and causing false public alarm and leaving the scene of an April 2006 accident. Prosecutors said he staged the crash and pretended to be lost for the following 27 hours while police and rescue officials launched a massive search.
His alleged motive was drawing attention to his flagging campaign in the Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District. He finished third in the four-way race.
Dodds' attorney, J.P. Nadeau, said Dodds and his family have had some differences since the trial and that authorities are blowing some marital stress out of proportion. Nadeau said Dodds and his family were on vacation in New Orleans and then went to Florida to visit his brother.
Police said Cindy Dodds had also asked about obtaining a restraining order against her husband. According to police, she said she "might get one at Portsmouth Court upon her return from Florida."
Police said they are getting conflicting stories about where Dodds was Monday night.
Nadeau says that the Dodds came home from Florida together, and he says that Gary Dodds stayed at their Rye home last night.
But police say they went to the Dodds' Rye home and he was not there at 10 pm Monday night, and then when they went to his property in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a passerby told them that they saw Dodds running down the street away from the building.
Police said they believe he may have been tipped off that they were coming. Police returned to his Portsmouth property Monday morning and arrested Dodds at 8:45 am.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)