One dead, two injured in Durham car accident

A car crash early Saturday morning in Durham left one man dead and two seriously injured. 

Durham Police and the Durham Fire Department responded to an accident on Route 4 at 8:59 a.m. on Saturday, approximately two miles west of the Route 4 and Madbury Road intersection. Bruce R. Larson, 74, of Durham, was found deceased at the scene. He had been driving a 2000 Buick traveling westbound on Route 4. 

According to The Associated Press, Larson served as a judge in the district division of the New Hampshire Circuit Court in Candia. 

The second car involved in the accident appeared to be trying to pass a car on the two-lane road while traveling eastbound when it collided with Larson’s Buick, according to Durham Deputy Police Chief Rene Kelley.  The second car, a 2004 Chrysler Sebring, was being driven by 22-year-old Ryan T. Merchant of Wakefield, Mass. 

Merchant was seriously injured and airlifted to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Mass. A 22-year-old male passenger in the Chrysler, Martin V. Hyppolite of Malden, Mass., was also seriously hurt and was taken to Portsmouth Regional Hospital in stable condition by McGregor Memorial Ambulance. Hyppolite is a running back for the University of Connecticut football team. According to the Hartford Courant, Hyppolite will be out of the hospital within the next few days. 

Durham Police and the New Hampshire State Police Technical Accident Reconstruction Unit are currently investigating the accident. Police from Lee and UNH also assisted officials at the scene Saturday morning.